Military technology, also known as military science and technology or national defense science and technology, is a general term for technologies researched, developed and applied in the military field. It is an important material basis for building the army, consolidating national defense, conducting wars and containing wars, and an important factor in the combat effectiveness of the army. Military technological innovation constitutes the national defense scientific and technological innovation system, is an important part of the national innovation system, and plays an extremely important role in a country's scientific and technological undertakings.
Since the 1970s, with the development of information technology, mankind has gradually entered the information society, and the mode of information warfare has also rapidly entered the actual battlefield from the laboratory. In the Gulf War, the Bosnia-Herzegovina War, the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War and the recent Iraq War, the western army led by the US military integrated the combat units all over space, air, ground and sea into a whole with its powerful and highly reliable command automation system, and played an unprecedented war capability.
Therefore, under the background of information society, the military demand of battlefield system confrontation leads to the formation of various weapons and equipment systems, which in turn affects the operation process of the whole military technology system. The trend of systematization of military technology has never been so obvious, which makes the military technology presented to the world become a whole. As a result, a term with a new meaning-military technology began to enter people's field of vision.
1 military technology system from the perspective of battlefield system confrontation
It has been the dream of countless politicians and military strategists for thousands of years to closely link the combatants of an army with weapons and equipment, cooperate closely and fight together, such as the arm of the hand and the finger of the arm. For example, Liu Bang commented on Sean: "Strategically, victory and defeat are thousands of miles away." But in ancient times when information technology was extremely underdeveloped, it was impossible to really carry out joint operations. With the development of information technology, the command and control on the battlefield has gradually realized automation, and the characteristics of system confrontation on the battlefield have emerged.
Battlefield system confrontation, that is, using the superior information acquisition, information processing and horizontal networking capabilities of information weapons and equipment, especially c4IsR system, connects various combat units (such as combat troops, various weapons and equipment, combat forces and support forces, etc.). ) and various operational elements (such as firepower and information capabilities, offensive and defensive capabilities, mobility and concealment capabilities, etc. ) be integrated on the battlefield and use this whole to fight against the enemy. The idea of system confrontation has completely changed the battlefield environment.
1. 1 the demand of system confrontation
The operational ideas of battlefield system confrontation mainly include: the coordination of ground, sea, air and space forces (or the structure of services and the rational allocation and coordination of different arms in the same service); The configuration and use of weapons and equipment should be integrated into a complete system, such as the integration of firepower and information power, the systematization of offensive and defensive weapons, the systematization of hard killing and soft destruction, etc. Matching of equipment and personnel; Matching of combat forces and support forces. American military experts call battlefield system confrontation "system system", which is similar to the concept of system integration in computer network technology. Its ideal state is that all kinds of detectors in the system (from reconnaissance satellites to shipborne radar, from unmanned aerial vehicles to underwater remote sensing sonar equipment) provide all users who need information (such as pilots, tank commanders, battlefield commanders, etc.). ) With the help of the information-based Internet. Users can make real-time, accurate and appropriate responses to the target and environment according to the unified operational command sequence and program requirements within the system.
The ideological drawer of the confrontation of the battlefield system is part of the ongoing new military revolution. As the center of this military revolution, the United States has always been at the forefront of other countries and was the first to put forward the idea of joint operations. It can be seen from the programmatic document-Joint PublicationNo. 1 that the essence of US joint operations is "* * * to achieve * * the same goal with actions", that is, under the guidance of unified thinking, the US military and allied forces cooperate in various fields, * * * act together, form an overall joint force, and seize the joint and allied operations.
Joint operations are operations conducted by more than two services, and their essence is operations under the guidance of the idea of "joint operations". In addition, with the continuous development of weapon technology, the modern battlefield environment is becoming more and more complicated. Military operations have developed from several services and arms fighting in one-dimensional space to multi-dimensional space operations. The means of combat are becoming more and more diversified. Military operations have changed from relying mainly on military strikes and fire assaults in the past to paying equal attention to military strikes and electromagnetic, information and psychological strikes, and using various means. The combat styles are increasingly diversified, and military operations have developed from the past military offensive and defensive to missile warfare, firepower warfare, electronic warfare, command and control warfare and computer network warfare simultaneously or alternately. The US military regards joint operations as the basic operational style, which is based on the understanding that modern operations are joint operations, that is, system confrontation.
After the Gulf War, our army also paid close attention to the progress of the new military revolution in the world and developed the idea of systematic confrontation. For example, since the mid-1990s, leaders of the former Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and many military technical experts, based on the experience of the Gulf War and the Kosovo War, put forward the view that high-tech war is not a confrontation of a single weapon, but a confrontation of weapons and equipment systems of both sides.
Construction of 1 2 weapon system
Under the guidance of the idea of battlefield system confrontation, countries actively promote the systematization of weapons and equipment systems.
Based on the idea of battlefield system confrontation, the U.S. military actively builds a weapon system with information-based weapons and equipment as the core. For example, since the mid-1990s, the U.S. military has not only laid out the blueprint for the construction of weapons and equipment systems in the Joint Operational Science and Technology Plan, the Joint Vision in 2000 and the Joint Vision in 2020, but also put forward the overall plan for the construction of weapons and equipment systems in the three services and formulated the plans for the construction of weapons and equipment systems in each service:
(1) The Army has formulated strategic documents such as 2 1 Century Army, 20 10 Army Concept, and Army the Day After Tomorrow, and put forward seven tasks to be completed and the establishment of six major combat capabilities. Through hard work, in about 20 years, the basic framework of the army's weapons and equipment system with the "future combat system" as the core has been established.
(2) The navy has formulated the concept of naval operations and the long-term planning objectives of the navy, and proposed to push the operational sea area from the ocean front to the offshore of various countries, and from seizing the right to control the sea to attacking the deep land targets; The operational concepts and ideas of "from sea to land" and from platform-centric warfare to network-centric warfare were determined. Therefore, the navy focuses on developing the equipment system with data link and networked c4IsR system, information-based main battle platform and information-based ammunition as the main body, thus forming a stronger joint combat capability.
(3) The Air Force has formulated development strategic guidelines such as "2 1 Century Air Force" and "Air Force in 2025", and will vigorously develop airborne and airborne electronic information systems, high-performance main battle aircraft and military spacecraft including combat spacecraft, so that * * * will form a new aviation aviation weapon and equipment system and gradually realize the transformation of the Air Force from the traditional simple "Aviation 77 Force" to the "Aerospace Force".
In addition to the United States, many countries in the world, including Russia, Japan, India and western European countries, are also taking measures to establish new weapons and equipment systems. For example, starting from Russia's national conditions and needs, it is proposed to establish a weapon and equipment system with strategic nuclear weapons as the core.
Through research, China military technical experts also proposed that our army should establish a weapon and equipment system consisting of main battle equipment, electronic information system and support equipment.
1.3 military technology system reorganization
The weapon system is based on military technology. In the long-term technical research practice, China military technical experts have summed up the basic laws of military technology development: military demand traction, technical, economic and management support. The ongoing reorganization of the military technology system conforms to the formation law of these two military technology disciplines, which is embodied in the following four aspects.
(1) The military needs have changed.
As mentioned above, the idea of battlefield system confrontation requires the establishment of a coordinated weapon and equipment system, which in turn puts forward new requirements for military technology system.
(2) Science and technology have developed into the era of big science and big engineering.
The military technology system is based on the national science and technology system. After experiencing a series of major events such as mechanical revolution, electromagnetic revolution, relativity, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, aerospace technology revolution and the rise of computer technology, today's science and technology has entered the era of big science and big engineering. Innovative interdisciplinary comprehensive platform has become the general trend. The boundary between science and technology is becoming increasingly blurred. It should be pointed out that the trend of integration of science and technology mainly originated in the field of military technology, such as Manhattan Project, Polaris Missile Project and ballistic missile defense technology. At the same time, it has also had a significant impact on the trend of military technology systematization.
(3) Economic strength makes it possible to build a complex weapon and equipment system.
The development of military technology needs to consume a lot of manpower and material resources, and besides the support of science and technology, it also needs a lot of funds, that is, it must be based on the national economic strength. Economic strength is obviously another decisive factor whether and how to develop military technology or weapons and equipment. After the revolution of steam engine, electric power and information technology, social productive forces have developed in front of and behind houses, and they have the strength to support the development of large or even super-large weapons and equipment systems and equip troops.
(4) The improvement of management level makes the complex military technology develop in harmony.
With the deepening of military technology research and the expansion of norms, management science and technology specializing in resource allocation has become the guarantee for the smooth operation of military technology research. In the stage of demonstration, pre-research and specific development of military technology, management science and technology has played a great role and become an important part of military technology system. In the process of developing complex weapons and equipment systems, it is unlikely to succeed without advanced management concepts and technologies under the strict constraints of funds, time and quality.
Driven by the above four aspects, military technology has been and will further develop in the direction of systematization, which has also brought about a revolution in concept. Military technology, which specializes in the development law of military technology system, has surfaced.
2 the formation of military technology discipline system
According to the military language of China People's Liberation Army, military technology can be divided into firearms, artillery, tanks, ammunition, military aircraft, ships, missiles and other technologies according to the types of weapons and equipment; According to the services and arms, it can be divided into navy, air force, strategic missile force, artillery, armored force, engineering force, chemical defense force and other technologies.
Obviously, military technology is a discipline group containing many military technology disciplines, and the relationship between internal disciplines is more complicated. Meanwhile, military technology is an open system. As soon as a new technical discipline enters the military field, it will become a part of military technology. The discipline system of military technology has developed from three aspects.
2. 1 basic research-applied research-development research system
Judging from the development or transformation of military technology, military technology, as a creative social activity, actually refers to national defense scientific research, which is more specifically called research, development, test and appraisal (RDT&E) in the United States. According to the classification of international scientific research structure and the types of research projects or topics, national defense scientific research includes basic research, applied research and development research. According to the types of research activities or different stages of development, the United States further divides national defense scientific research into five aspects: theoretical research, exploratory development, early development (divided into early technical development and early system development), engineering development and combat system development. In China, it is often divided into three aspects: eye protection pre-research, model development and test and appraisal. Whether it is five or three aspects, it can be classified into the structure of basic research, applied research and development research.
The main task of basic research (theoretical research in the United States, or a part of China's national defense pre-research) is to study natural phenomena, master scientific principles, store knowledge, and seek scientific basis for the application of new concepts and methods in the military, rather than directly solving the current specific military application problems. Its research scope is very wide, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, aerodynamics, ballistics, and even behavioral science and sociology.
The task of applied research (corresponding to the exploratory development and advanced technology development in the United States, or a part of China's national defense pre-research) is to explore the possibility of military application of basic research results and pre-research possible technology applications. Its research contents include: simulation test and simulation, manufacturing and testing of principle components to solve specific military needs; Identify and demonstrate the feasibility and reality of various advanced technical schemes in military application; According to the actual use conditions, the components, subsystems and principle products are developed for verification, so as to examine the feasibility of various technologies under actual conditions. Applied research is universal and generally has no direct relationship with the development of specific models of weapons and equipment. The so-called advanced technology demonstration (ATD) and advanced concept technology demonstration (AcTD) belong to the scope of applied research.
The task of research and development (corresponding to three aspects of early system development, engineering development and combat system development in the United States, or two aspects of China model development, test and appraisal) is to develop the weapons and equipment actually used by the troops. Its specific contents include: the overall scheme design, verification and approval of specific types of weapons and equipment systems; Detailed design and trial production of weapons and equipment; Complete development test and operation test; Improve the weapon system in use.
It can be seen that national defense science and technology mainly includes natural science, technical science and engineering technology, as well as social science. National defense science and technology includes three kinds of research in the scientific research structure, but a large number of them are mainly applied research and development research, with the emphasis on development research. Take the United States as an example Almost throughout the 1970s and 1980s, applied research and development research accounted for about 96% of the total national defense research funds, and development research accounted for about 70%. In addition, the development of national defense science and technology also includes the technical transformation of existing weapons and equipment, and the solution of technical problems after newly developed weapons and equipment are put into mass production. Obviously, national defense science and technology includes technologies related to weapons and equipment manufacturing in the development of national defense industry. Therefore, to some extent, it can be considered that national defense science and technology is technology under the guidance of science, and its ultimate ownership is technology. In this sense, military technology is actually the technology needed for national defense construction and the research and development activities to seek these technologies.
2.2 * * * Basic Technology-Applied Technology System
The second view holds that military technology includes two levels of technical types: basic military technology and applied military technology. Accordingly, the discipline system of military technology should have a two-tier structure. At the bottom is the discipline group of military basic technology, including military microelectronics technology, military photoelectric technology, military computer technology, military material technology, military power technology, military manufacturing technology, military simulation technology and management science and technology. The top layer is the applied military technology discipline group, including reconnaissance and surveillance technology, communication technology, navigation and positioning technology, camouflage and stealth technology, information warfare technology, precision guidance technology, aerospace technology, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons technology, new concept weapon technology, military engineering technology, command automation system technology and other military technology disciplines. This is the two-tier structure of military technology.
The two-tier structure is a good analytical framework. As we all know, the military technical level of a country is based on its entire technical system, so there is a natural connection between military technical disciplines and general technical disciplines in the disciplinary system; The discipline group of basic military technology is the link between military technology and general technology. On the other hand, military technology refers to weapons and military engineering, and militancy, as a new feature of military technology system, is not available in general technology system; The discipline group of applied military technology is connected with all kinds of weapons and equipment and military engineering, which opens the way for the practical application of military technology. The following figure 1 can be used to represent the two-tier structure of the military technology discipline system.
Figure 1 Two-layer Discipline Structure of Modern Military Technology
2.3 Leading disciplines
Leading discipline is a discipline that plays a leading role in the development of science and technology in a certain period of time. In the history of scientific and technological development, mechanics, chemistry, physics, biology, quantum physics, atomic energy science, aerospace science and other disciplines have successively become the leading disciplines. With the development and application of science and technology in the military field, military technology has formed a huge discipline group, among which there are also problems of leading disciplines. Generally speaking, the leading discipline of military technology coincides with the leading discipline in the field of science and technology. This is because, firstly, as a part of the whole science and technology, military technology is closely related to the development of science and technology; Second, because of the urgency of military struggle and the rulers' concern for military technology, new technologies are often applied to the military field first, so leading disciplines that emerge at the historic moment and have vitality are often based on the military technology field, such as computer science; Third, some science and technology can be applied to civilian fields, such as atomic energy science, because it has been fully applied in the military field and has been allowed to study.
It is generally believed that in the era of mechanized warfare, the leading disciplines of military technology are mainly engine technology and machinery manufacturing technology; In the information war era, the leading discipline of military technology is mainly information science and technology. At present, countries with relatively developed military technology, such as the United States, regard information construction as the main direction of army building, so the research of information science has become the main body of military technology research. However, China's military technology is relatively backward, and there is still a long way to go to realize informatization. We should seize this important period of strategic opportunities in the next 20 years, actively promote the military transformation with China characteristics, accelerate the transformation of our army from mechanization and semi-mechanization to informationization, and comprehensively improve our army's deterrence and actual combat capabilities. Therefore, the leading disciplines of China's military technology should be machinery manufacturing technology, engine technology and information technology, and so on. Of course, the status and role of information technology is becoming more and more important. It is predicted that this situation will not change around 2020.