Predicting Military Innovation

Publication Date: January 1999

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Author(s): John Arquilla; Christopher Layne; Jeffrey A. Isaacson

Research Area: Military and defense

Type: Brief

Abstract:

Although military technology is increasingly available and affordable, not all states have the capacity to improve military effectiveness by acquiring hardware. Integrative difficulties--in command structures, doctrine and tactics, training, and support--are common in the developing world, and many states will have to find some level of innovation to overcome such difficulties if they are to use military technologies effectively. This annotated briefing documents a research effort aimed at understanding and predicting how militaries may improve their battlefield effectiveness. The briefing first analyzes military innovation conceptually and then formulates a framework for predicting the likelihood of innovative success. The research synthesizes a broad literature on innovation and provides a useful tool for assessing future military developments.