Modern (Networked) Warfare: Its Concepts, Evolution, and Issues

The on-going Russo-Ukraine war (February 2012-present), the recent India-Pakistan war (May 7-10, 2025), and the Israel-US attacks on Iran (June 13, 2025) have become interesting for a variety of reasons, and garnered a lot of attention in international defense publications and weapons manufacturers. To many defense analysts and defense industry professionals, these wars have become real-life testing platforms to examine and evaluate various present-day war technologies. They have opened up discussion on the future of war, the increasing use of inter-connected networks in warfare, and the increasing use of remote-operated drones in conducting surveillance and in offensive actions against enemies. Satellite communication and visualization, the use of computer networks, and electronic jamming devices are increasingly becoming akin to munitions. It will be interesting to analyze the nature of present-day warfare by using an information systems and/or socio-technical systems perspective. It would be revealing to determine aspects of “networked-warfare.” Several questions come to mind, such as: What are the frameworks used? What are its components? How is the tracking and networking of very fast-moving projectiles accomplished? How are troop movements planned during combat? What is the typical network medium? What is the role of satellite communications in this type of warfare? What are some of the technical obstacles such as latency and interoperability, and how are these overcome? What is the role of AI and ML, if any, in modern weapons systems? There are also ancillary questions, such as: What are the ethical and social implications of new technologies such as drones? What is the role of disinformation and misinformation that are increasingly used in modern warfare? This research is an attempt to answer some if not all of these questions.