Future Warfare and the Construction of Data-Centric Intelligent Integrated Systems : An Analysis of the U.S. Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) Case

As U.S.-China competition intensifies, the race for revolution in military affairs(RMA) in the realm of future warfare is also becoming more pronounced. AI-based RMA necessitates the establishment of integrated data systems, which is essential both for the advancement of algorithms and for the acquisition and flow of information utilized by AI. Over the past few years, discussions on AI RMA have converged on the initial phase of building intelligent integrated data systems. The U.S. efforts to promote Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) exemplify this process. The establishment of integrated data systems requires substantial budgets, faces extensive organizational resistance, and takes considerable time. Integrating information systems that have developed over decades by individual services and functions into a unified system and promoting the standardization of information is a painstaking process. To effectively push this process forward, the U.S. has continuously expressed a firm commitment at the levels of the Department of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, identified problems and discovered success cases from leading forces’ experiences, and adopted various approaches. Notably, assigning relatively experienced and advanced services by domain and function to lead these efforts has fostered healthy competition among the services and allowed for the anticipation and management of problems through precedent cases. The South Korean military must firmly recognize the importance of building integrate data systems in the process of embracing and developing AI-based RMA, which is expected to emerge as a global military standard. Furthermore, it is essential to clearly understand the unique characteristics and challenges of this phase and to utilize lessons learned from the U.S. to establish a systematic innovation strategy.