The Army and AirSea Battle

The AirSea Battle concept and the Joint Operational Access Concept provide clear indications of the character and purpose of US force development for at least the next decade or so. The strategic competition that underpins these concepts is real , important and accelerating - and is already impacting on Australia. The details of the AirSea Battle concept itself are not that important – all wars reflect their immediate strategic contexts and no forward- leaning concept is ever likely to pass into detailed war, campaign or operation planning. However, the view presented in the concept on the character of future wars between states is important and raises critical questions that need to be answered if Australian force development can claim to be rational. The ADF has a number of views of what ‘conventional’ warfare might look like, if we accept the view taken by AirSea Battle and the JOAC, most of them are wrong. For the Army the future described by, and partially shaped by US preparations for, AirSea Battle offer important signposts to future needs and to the nature of the future operational environment. These signposts don’t tell us what it will be like – simply what some of the influences driving strategic and operational systems seem likely to be. It remains for Army to decide how it should approach the challenges that these drivers will present.