Future Military Conflict: Army's Post-2050 Strategy and Approach
U.S. Army Unveils Operating Concept for 2050 and Beyond
The U.S. Army has unveiled its proposed operating concept for the future, focusing on integrated all-domain warfare, advancement and adoption of cutting-edge technologies, and strengthening global partnerships. This concept aims to prepare the Army for the evolving conduct of warfare in an era of increasing complexity, multi-domain contests, and hybrid threats.
At the heart of this concept is the integration of land, sea, air, cyber, and space domains to maintain dominance in contested environments. The Army intends to leverage faster learning cycles and data-driven decision-making to outpace adversaries, accelerating the deployment of AI, unmanned systems, cyber tools, and other emerging technologies.
The proposed concept also emphasizes enhancing interoperability with allies via joint exercises, training, and combined operations to bolster collective defense readiness. In addition, there is a strategic focus on energy resilience to support future operations, including the potential use of advanced nuclear microreactors to ensure continuous operational capacity independent of vulnerable infrastructure or supply chains.
The Army's future-focused operating concept establishes a basis for exploring emerging operational approaches, tactics, techniques, and procedures. It offers solution paths to operational problems across the global range of military operations, with a strategic focus on the operational problems posed by the Chinese in the Indo-Pacific theater.
The concept for 2050 expands the vision of combined arms at the tactical and operational levels of warfare, restructuring combined arms battalions to operate effectively in multiple domains. It empowers the practice of mission command, especially in light of the uncertainty of future military operations, and suggests, rationalizes, and intellectually leads change in adapting to the changes in the conduct of warfare.
Large-scale combat operations in 2050 will be conducted irrespective of the conditions of warfare and enemy action, and must be linked by strategy to policy objectives. Every campaign will be a global campaign conducted under continuous surveillance, requiring Army units to have the ability to mask their movements, in all spectrums.
Involving policymakers, or at least staff members who work directly with policymakers, in the alternative futures exercise is the most effective way to communicate results and sensitize them to key uncertainties. The 2050 operating concept must, in the words of the 2022 National Security Strategy, empower all levels of command "to innovate and creatively design solutions as battlefield conditions evolve."
The next operating concept must focus on the operational problems posed by the Chinese in the Indo-Pacific theater and make the case for how the Army contributes to the defense of the Indo-Pacific. It must ensure practitioners think about the conduct of warfare and the waging of war, and empower adaptability in the face of unanticipated conditions of warfare.
The key elements of the U.S. Army's proposed operating concept for 2050 and beyond position the Army to respond flexibly and decisively in an era of increasingly complex, multi-domain, and technology-driven warfare environments.
[1] U.S. Army, "2050 Operating Concept", 2022. [3] U.S. Army, "Energy Resilience for Future Operations", 2023.
- The U.S. Army's proposed operating concept for 2050 emphasizes the integration of various domains for dominance in contested environments, including counterterrorism and special operations, leveraging technologies such as drones, AI, and cyber tools.
- In addition to technological advancements, the concept focuses on enhancing interoperability with allies through joint exercises, training, and combined operations, ensuring national security and defense.
- The strategic use of logistics, particularly energy resilience with the potential use of advanced nuclear microreactors, is highlighted to support future operations, contributing to the Army's broader warfare strategy.
- The 2050 operating concept aims to adapt to the evolving conduct of warfare, especially in the Indo-Pacific theater, and empowers mission command in light of uncertain future operations.
- Large-scale combat operations in 2050 require a strategy-linked, data-driven approach for reconnaissance, masking movements, and adaptability in all spectrums.
- Policymakers need to be involved in the alternative futures exercise to ensure sensitization to key uncertainties, with the 2050 operating concept emphasizing innovations and creative problem-solving at all command levels to counter the operational problems posed by potential adversaries.
