Who is vulnerable?

The contradiction about Information Warfare is, that it is forced by nations that are highly technologized. Information War on the battlefield will therefore be used mostly by them. But as a matter of fact, today, most potential enemies do not have the technological capability. IW therefore cannot successfully be used against them. The enemy has to have high tech weapons and communication to use IW in a practical manner. Therefore, countries which develop these new kind of weapons and tactic are also the most vulnerable. Third wave weapons cannot be used against first wave armies and partisans activities. And they only have a partial effect against second wave armies. Information Warfare can also be used in a "non military" way against individuals and whole societies. This new style of warfare gives potential enemies the power to disrupt the communication capabilities of a country and thereby break down its business.

The Information Warfare weapons could more likely be used in the near future as terrorist weapons rather than on the battlefield by the regular armies. Today's communication society is extremely vulnerable to disruptions. Instead of planting a bomb in a airplane with all the dangers for the terrorists, they could shut down all the communication capabilities from the tower of a airport to the hundreds of airplanes that the control center guides. A accident following this disruption would be most likely.

II. Answer the following questions.

1. Who could use Information warfare?

2. Was the Persian Gulf War the IW? Base your answer upon the texts.

3. Why are highly technologized states the most vulnerable in IW?

4. How can IW be used in a “non-military” way?

5. Who could more likely use IW weapons in the near future? Why?

6. How were IW tools used in Gulf War?

7. Why are attakers against they commit a crime?

8. Can IW weapons be used on the battlefied today? If ‘yes’, who uses; if ‘no’, explain why.

III. Find in what sentence the following word-combinations are used in the texts.

— public sources

— “smart” weapons

— improving the security

— high tech weapons and communication

— break down its business

— to be vulnerable to disruptions

IV. Summarize texts in 5 sentences. Present your summary in written form.

Text V.

What Is Cyberwar?

I. Read the text (time limite 10 min).

Cyberwar refers to conducting military operations according to information-related principles. It means-disrupting or destroying information and communications systems. It means trying to know everything about an adversary while keeping the adversary from knowing much about oneself. It means turning the "balance of information and knowledge" in one's favor, especially if the balance of forces is not. It means using knowledge so that less capital and labor may have to be expended.

This form of warfare may involve diverse technologies, notably for command and control, for intelligence collection, processing and distribution, for tactical communications, positioning, identifying friend-or-foe, and for "smart" weapons systems, to give but a few examples. It may also involve electronically blinding, jamming, deceiving, overloading and intruding into an adversary's information and communications circuits.

Cyberwar has broad ramifications for military organization and doctrine. Moving to networked structures may require some decentralization of command and control. But decentralization is only part of the picture:

The new technology may also provide greater "topsight," a central understanding of the big picture that enhances the management of complexity. This pairing of decentralization with topsight brings the real gains.

Cyberwar may also imply developing new doctrines about the kinds of forces needed, where and how to deploy them, and how to strike the enemy. How and where to position what kinds of computers, sensors, networks and databases may become as important as the question once was for the deployment of bombers and their support functions.

As an innovation in warfare, cyberwar may be to the 21st century what blitzkrieg was to the 20th century. At a minimum, cyberwar represents an extension of the traditional importance of obtaining information in war:

having superior command, control, communication and intelligence and trying to locate, read, surprise and deceive the enemy before he does the same to you.

The postmodern battlefield may be fundamentally altered by the information technology revolution, at both the strategic and tactical levels. The increasing breadth and depth of this battlefield and the everimproving accuracy and destructiveness of even conventional munitionshave heightened the importance of information to the point at which dominance in this aspect alone may now yield consistent war-winning advantages to able practitioners.

II. Answer questions.

1. What does the term “Cyberwar” mean?

2. What does this form of warfare involve?

3. Why is Cyberwar important for military organization and doctrine?

4. Explain why Cyberwar may be what blitzkrieg was to the 20th century.

III. Read the text again and divide it into logical parts. Give a headline for each part.

IV. Compress paragraphs leaving only the sentences expressing the main idea of the text.

V. Give the most literary translation of the following sentences.

1. It means turning the “balance of information and knowledge” in one’s favor, especially if the balance of forces is not.

2. It means using knowledge so that less capital and labor have to be expended.

3. Moving to networked structures may require some decentralization of command and control.

4. This pairing of decentralization with topsight brings the real gains.

5. At a minimum, cyberwar represents an extension of the traditional importance of obtaining information in war.

6. Cyberwar may also imply developing new doctrines about the kinds of forces needed, where and how to deploy them, and how to strike the enemy.

7. The new technology may also provide greater “topsight”; acentral understanding of the big picture that enhances the management of complexity.

8. How and where to position what kinds of computers, sensors, network and databases may become as important as the question once was for the deployement of bombers and their support functions.

Text VI.

What Is Netwar?