Dr. Paul T. Mitchell, Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, speaks at RUSI


Networks and Coalitions: Canada and Australian naval operations in the Persian Gulf


4 October 2006, 1530 – 1700


A Transatlantic Forum with Dr. Paul T. Mitchell, Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies, Singapore

Network Centric Warfare (NCW) presents significant challenges to coalition operations; challenges that extend beyond the familiar ones of technical interoperability. The insecurity associated with digital information and the lack of trust that exists between states in the anarchical international environment means the information exchange that NCW enables will be difficult to establish. Networks were used very successfully in the Persian Gulf supporting coalition operations, however, they did not provide the "sensor to shooter" connectivity promised by NCW, and had to be facilitated by privileged partners of the United States. Lessons of the Persian Gulf suggest that limited networked operations are possible; however, they will require highly trusted partners of the US to facilitate such sophisticated interoperability.
 
Dr. Paul T. Mitchell is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, and former Director of Academics at the Canadian Forces College. His writings on NCW have been recognized for their excellence by the International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium, the US Surface Naval Warfare Association, and the United States Naval Institute.  He is the author of the forthcoming Adelphi Paper "Networks and Coalition Operations in the Age of US Military Primacy" and "Multinational Naval Operations in the 21st Century".


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