CYBERWAR IS COMING is the name of a paper written in the early nineties. Today, this body of work is close to prescient. But, its revelations have not yet come to pass in entirety. We’ve covered cyber war in some quantity here at SOFREP. Cyber alongside tactical ground assaults as a leverage of power before, after, or during combat is on the horizon. It is the responsibility of the U.S. to get ahead of the curve. The opening chapter and a summary of future conflict are particularly exciting. Excuse me, but I find these things interesting and exceedingly relevant. The bottom line –  we have surpassed the analog era and into the digital age. The very nature of information is something new.

In layman’s terms we could get the drop on anyone:

“Suppose that war looked like this: small numbers of your light, highly mobile forces defeat and compel the surrender of large masses of heavily armed, dug-in enemy forces, with little loss of life on either side. Your forces can do this because they are well prepared, make room for maneuver, concentrate their firepower rapidly in unexpected places, and have superior command, control, and information systems that are decentralized to allow tactical initiatives, yet provide the central commanders with unparalleled intelligence and “topsight” for strategic purposes.”

The featured image is courtesy of The Economist. It’s only half right in all likelihood because both of these characters will be needed. As for the grotesquely muscular soldier – it is more likely we will trade out metal for an organic tissue. Within that iron man suit of the future will house some of the capability in the brain of the cyber security specialist. Fast forward into the future – a remotely controlled machine, like the Terminator.

Cyber war isn’t fully matured, but it has definitely gone from zero to 60. But it is happening in real time. China has been researching and working on a kind of super soldier. Except, they’re using humans and trying to turn them into super heroes like Captain America. I’m going to work to continue the research and articles exploring Cyber warfare. But, the growth of Special Operations Forces and the trend to do more with less has sparked a military revolution that’s given birth to the most elite and capable fighting force the world has ever seen, the US Military and SOCOM.

Here’s another excerpt that mirrors that sentiment in “Cyberwar is Coming”:

“Absent the galvanizing threat that used to be posed by the Soviet Union; domestic political pressures will encourage the United States to make do with a smaller military in the future. The type of warfighting capability that we envision, which is inspired by the Mongol example but drawn mainly from our analysis of the information revolution, may allow America to protect itself and its far-flung friends and interests, regardless of the size and strength of our potential future adversaries.”

Featured image courtesy of The Economist.