Conclusion: innovation and military power

Abstract

Military power is more than the accumulation of material resources. It is a product of how states mobilize, exploit and use resources to generate military force, and how forces are employed in the field. Viewed thus, the importance of military innovation becomes clear. Militaries that fail to innovate, and enter war with obsolete ways and means of fighting, risk defeat even under conditions of material advantage. At the very least, failure to innovate will result in military inefficiency and the emergence of capability gaps. Cutting costs and increasing agility are key imperatives for Western militaries in the twenty-first century. Moreover, both the United States and Britain have faced the specter of military defeat in recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The American, British and French armies have undertaken a number of innovations in attempting to transform themselves for the post-Cold War world. One innovation, in particular, stands out, namely, the development of networked forces. Another significant innovation is British and French doctrine on the effects-based approach to operations. Finally, all three armies have become more expeditionary, and have attempted to innovate new highly integrated, medium-weight, ground fighting systems – the US Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS), the British Army’s Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) and the French Army’s Scorpion.