The Impact of Technology on the Armed Forces

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The Impact of Technology on the Armed Forces Abstract The paper will look at how technology has impacted on certain sections of the armed forces, focusing on how modern developments in computer hardware and software are helping to revolutionise the military forces. The aim is to show how the military use modern technology and Information systems to reduce costs and maximise usage of all its components. 1.0 Introduction Information systems have been around for decades and are growing more and more powerful. Berkowitz suggests that ‘The next wars will be fought not just on battlefields but also in the world’s computer systems...No-one has felt the effects of the Information revolution more that the world’s military forces’ (1). The technology used has advanced with time and as time has passed, this technology became the central nerve system of the military. Today our military has access to many ways to observe the enemy. From unmanned drones that fly reconnaissance missions to satellite imagery and infrared sensors to detect enemy presence, modern technology permits battles to be plotted by Global Positioning System (GPS) and tracked via computer in ways that earlier military could not imagine. Secure data and voice communication is key to the success of any military campaign. The military spends billions of pounds on electronic technology to assist in the war and it is more evident now than ever before that there is a wide range of uses for computer devices on today’s battlefield. In 2001, President George W. Bush said “American military might must draw on new technologies and strategies in the 21st century.… We must build forces based on revolutionary advances in the technology of war that will allow us to keep the peace by redefining war on our terms. … a future force that is defined less by size and more by mobility and swiftness. That force will
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