Military

Exploring the Path to Intelligent Transformation in Joint Operations

2026-04-16   

With the rapid application of military intelligence technology, advanced algorithms, embodied intelligence, big data models, and other "intelligent elements" have become important variables that stimulate the rapid evolution of war forms. New combat organization forms such as "+unmanned", "+network information", and "+intelligence" are driving changes in existing combat methods, combat styles, and combat systems. Driven by the wave of intelligence, whoever can outline the future joint operation scenarios in advance, take the lead in innovating combat theories, combat methods, and transforming military construction, can seize the opportunity of military transformation, grasp the initiative of strategic competition, and knock on the door to victory in future wars. The mechanism is the changes brought about by the research and application of "intelligent empowerment" artificial intelligence technology, which affects the path selection of military construction and development in major countries around the world. The intelligent transformation of joint operations aims to grasp the mechanism of combat power generation between new domain and new quality forces and traditional combat forces, leverage the connection, penetration, emergence, and empowerment of "network cloud+intelligence" elements, and stimulate combat forces to release stronger and more efficient combat capabilities. The new domain and new quality power focus on pre empowerment. The power of new domains and new qualities is itself a product of advanced technology, with higher sensitivity, better adaptability, and stronger responsiveness to intelligent technology, possessing innate conditions for intelligent empowerment. Therefore, at the beginning of the formation of combat effectiveness of new domain and new quality forces, attention should be paid to the absorption and utilization of intelligent technology. By coordinating the blueprint for the construction of new domain and new quality forces, scientifically designing the application methods of intelligent elements in command, combat, training, and support, we strive to achieve the transformation of intelligent elements from point "intervention" to local "support", and then to comprehensive "leadership", and use intelligent technology to create a growth pole for new quality combat effectiveness. Traditional combat forces focus on improving quality and enhancing capabilities. The use of "+intelligence" and other methods to enhance the command, response, and strike capabilities of traditional forces is a direct manifestation of intelligent empowerment of traditional combat forces. Therefore, attention should be paid to breaking through the bottlenecks and obstacles in the investigation, control, combat, evaluation, and protection of traditional combat forces, selecting the corresponding links as entry points, promoting the deep integration of intelligent technology into the combat process, using the models, algorithms, and data support provided by intelligent technology to promote the material upgrade and intelligent transformation of traditional forces, and achieving the improvement and efficiency of the tactical performance of traditional combat forces such as mobility, strike, and protection. The key to hybrid power lies in the coordinated and coordinated release of energy. In recent local wars, new domain and new quality forces and traditional combat forces have taken on corresponding tasks based on their respective advantages. How to better coordinate the two forces in the future battlefield to form a cohesive force is one of the challenges facing the intelligent transformation of joint operations. Therefore, based on the combat characteristics of the two forces, intelligent algorithms and auxiliary systems should be applied to the task planning, command and control, collaborative operations, and other aspects of mixed forces. Through smooth interaction links, unified spatiotemporal benchmarks, and optimized combat rules, the contradictions and conflicts between the two forces in preparation time, response speed, and strike accuracy can be resolved, thereby continuously improving the overall effectiveness of heterogeneous mixed forces in collaborative operations. The premise is the openness of the "open decoupling" combat system, which is reflected in the ability to access a large number of independent combat units, achieve diversified functional integration, and thus generate economies of scale; The decoupling of the combat system is reflected in the loose coupling of combat functions and the flexibility to add or remove functional modules according to combat needs. In future intelligent joint operations, the combat system is based on information networks to construct an information loop, which can achieve dynamic reconstruction of the combat system at a higher level and generate more diverse combat functions. The emergence of cross domain combination advantages in element "modularization". The foundation of modularization is standardized decomposition, which means that the same type of combat elements have relatively unified capability standards. For example, dividing operational elements such as reconnaissance, strike, and evaluation into corresponding functional modules according to certain rules. In this way, even if the same type of combat elements are dispersed in different spaces, they can be quickly drawn and combined as needed due to their consistent capability standards and resource requirements. In intelligent joint operations, with the help of software defined functional technology, combat elements from different fields can be "packaged" into standardized and universal capability "interfaces" for the combat system to call upon at the moment. On the one hand, new combat elements can be integrated according to mission changes to increase new combat capabilities; On the other hand, it can quickly replace the lost combat capability element modules, maintain combat functions, and continue to carry out combat tasks. The integration of grouping has emerged with the advantage of efficiency fusion. Traditional combat formations focus on interconnectivity within formations, with weak compatibility between formations and limited combat effectiveness within formations. The formation of intelligent joint operations is no longer simply about grouping forces together, but through the flexible combination of combat units, it achieves the integration and coordination of multi domain combat forces, allowing suitable forces to be linked together, advantages to be gathered together, and effectiveness to be integrated. The formation of combat forces as a whole unleashes combat power at a higher level. In combat, we should closely adhere to the requirements of the combat mission, comprehensively consider the speed, accuracy, distance, reaction time and other capability indicators of different forces, and quickly organize advantageous combat forces in different battlefield spaces to enhance the overall combat effectiveness of force organization. The emergence of multi adaptability advantages through the "refactoring" of functions. Traditional large-scale combat platforms have fixed functions, and once formed into formations, they can only rely on redundancy in quantity and scale to cope with temporary changes in combat tasks. Intelligent weapons and equipment often adopt the plug and play design concept and open system architecture, which can be combined with different functional modules on the basic platform to achieve rapid load replacement and software upgrade, thus flexibly changing combat functions and carrying out diversified combat tasks. In the future intelligent joint operations, the front-line battlefield situation is complex and ever-changing, and the operational requirements are dynamic and diverse. Objectively, it requires the combat system to be flexible and decoupled, forming a large number of small combat units that are widely distributed, functionally specialized, and can be accessed at any time. Each small combat unit can change its functional combination and working mode in real-time according to combat needs, relying on a global interconnected network to join specific combat task systems at any time and execute diverse tasks as needed. The key is the "deep connection" in intelligent joint operations, which is no longer just about connecting physical communication links, but also pays more attention to the systematic, standardized, and dynamic connection of data, rules, standards, and interface levels behind the combat scenario. In essence, it is to achieve deep mapping and connection of capability indicators and support systems, and promote the implementation of data-driven, autonomous collaboration, and intelligent response. Systematic integration under the guidance of combat scenarios. A combat scenario is a description of a series of combat actions and processes that may be carried out by both sides of a specific opponent within a certain time and space range, based on weapon equipment and combat capabilities, reflecting a profound understanding of the combat process. The scenario of intelligent joint operations requires clarifying the capability requirements and supporting relationships between our own tasks, actions, equipment, and support, systematically designing the operating rules of the combat system, and making the reconnaissance chain, command chain, strike chain, and support chain operate more smoothly. Standardized integration under the constraint of capability indicators. Joint operations require the formation of a joint force among participating forces, and operational capabilities, whether decomposed layer by layer from top to bottom or gathered layer by layer from bottom to top, cannot be separated from unified and convertible rules and standards as support. In the future of intelligent joint operations, in order to achieve rapid closure of the kill network chain, efficient collaboration between personnel and personnel, and smooth operation of software systems, it is even more necessary to standardize and unify standards and rules. Therefore, through the analysis of joint combat capabilities, it is necessary to clarify the capability boundaries and dependencies of link operation and data flow between different forces and links, ensure unified standards and smooth links, and improve the operational efficiency of the intelligent joint combat system. Dynamic connectivity supported by the network information system. The advantage of the network information system lies in the use of Internet of Things, mobile Internet and other technologies to connect the combat forces deployed dispersedly on the battlefield, and support dynamic adjustment and intensive use on demand. The highly dynamic changes in the future battlefield objectively require the network information system to quickly and efficiently process various types of data in the combat system, flexibly adjust and gather combat resources, and drive the organic connection of battlefield perception, mobility, strike, protection and other actions through the closed information loop. Therefore, it is necessary to streamline the key links of information loop acquisition, processing, transmission, use, feedback, etc., promote the extension and expansion of information loop to command, combat, and support end nodes, and achieve autonomous collaborative operations of end platforms through command docking and data connection, ensuring that frontline combat forces have more flexible battlefield adaptability. The method is to "integrate and promote" the intelligent transformation of joint operations, involving multiple fields such as operations, training, and construction. Only by breaking through the shackles of thinking and promoting the integration of warfare, construction, and preparation can we transform the combat system, cultivate the ability to prepare for war, seize the opportunity for transformation, and seize the initiative in future wars. Leading the transformation of intelligent combat methods with innovative ideas. We should pay attention to updating the concept of intelligent thinking, predict the development trend of intelligent technology, drive practical development through theoretical innovation, and solve practical problems. On the one hand, we need to strengthen forward-looking research and deep thinking on the development of military construction driven by military intelligent technology, with new demands as the driving force, new technologies as the support, and new capabilities as the symbol, to proactively layout the generation of new quality combat capabilities. On the other hand, innovative action methods combine human creativity and thinking with machine precision and speed, organizing and implementing small-scale, agile and intelligent combat actions at a shorter and finer scale to enhance combat effectiveness. Promote the efficiency of the combat system through technological breakthroughs. The breakthrough of advanced technology can not only be transformed into cutting-edge weapons and equipment, but also have a significant impact on combat thinking, strategic tactics, and combat methods. On the one hand, we need to follow the law of combat power generation and development, create lower cost and multi-functional combat platforms, and promote the development of intelligent equipment from simple combat tools to combat entities with varying degrees of autonomy. On the other hand, it is necessary to optimize and improve the research and development mechanism of military intelligent technology, take military needs as the driving force, promote the rapid and accurate embedding of scientific and technological achievements into the military field, build a combat system with characteristics such as integration, autonomy, and self-healing, and strive to form a winning advantage in future wars ahead of opponents. Promote the transformation of combat effectiveness generation mode through training innovation. Military training is an effective way to generate combat effectiveness. To adapt to the new characteristics of the intelligent power system, innovate and develop intelligent training concepts, and rely on technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and VR to create new training environments. Fully utilize the self game and self-learning characteristics of intelligent systems, construct a training system, environment, and mechanism specifically for intelligent joint combat systems, strengthen the training of intelligent systems with "humans" as the main body, innovate new training modes with "machines" as the object, explore new ways of combat power generation through "human-machine integration", improve the cognitive and interactive quality of human-machine cooperation, enhance the combat planning, autonomous control, and collaborative combat capabilities of intelligent combat platforms, and explore new models, paths, and situations for combat power generation. (New Society)

Edit:Momo Responsible editor:Chen zhaozhao

Source:People's Liberation Army Daily

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