Network-Centric Warfare in the Age of Chaos, Complexity, and Cyber Conflict
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3849/aimt.02065Keywords:
Network-Centric Warfare, Multi-Domain Operations, chaos and complexity, cyber warfare, situational awareness, military decision systemsAbstract
Modern warfare is shaped by a convergence of digital connectivity, multi-domain operations, and persistent cyber threats, which undermine information reliability and command and control coherence. This article develops a theoretical framework that reconceptualizes Network-Centric Warfare as a socio-technical system composed of four interdependent layers: cognitive, organizational, technological, and cyber. Drawing on cyber warfare research, chaos theory, and knowledge management, it explains how forces can sustain decision advantage when contested networks degrade, misinform, and cascade failures across units. The framework challenges classical NCW assumptions of stable networks, trustworthy information, transparent operational pictures, and advances an integrated model with research propositions linking cyber resilience and network redundancy to organizational adaptability and cognitive performance. It informs future design of C4ISR and multinational cyber cooperation.
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