Assessing Military Technology Biddle Spring 2013

8/12/2019 Assessing Military Technology Biddle Spring 2013

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The course is intended to be complementary to other Elliott School coursework in Secu-

rity Policy Studies, and especially to two other offerings in the Defense Analysis track: IAFF

6186, Methods for Defense Policy Analysis; and a forthcoming course on the Conduct of War.

Ideally, students planning employment in this field after graduation will take all three courses,

and Military Technology Assessment is thus designed with the expectation that critical issues

of analytical method, military strategy and tactics, and the larger merits of policy on the use offorce will be treated in other coursework. Given this, we will not cover those topics here.

Military Technology Assessment focuses on the relative merits of competing technologies

not on the relative merits of technology as opposed to non-material policy initiatives, or the

larger impact of technology on the future of war or foreign policy. These latter issues are criti-

cally important. But to treat them properly requires an ability to integrate deep knowledge of

the technologies themselves anda deep knowledge of the conduct of war and the methods of

analysisthis is best accomplished through a sequence of interrelated courses rather than a

single semester overview. (In particular, the relative merits of material and non-material con-

tributions to military outcomes will be a major theme in the forthcoming course on Conduct of

War, and is also treated in IAFF 6186.22, Military Power and Effectiveness.) And mastery of

technology assessment per se is an essential professional skill for students planning a career inworkplaces whose duties often revolve around technology and its analysis. This course there-

fore aims to develop professional analytical skills in assessing military technology per seit

is not meant to stand alone as a general treatment of military effectiveness or defense analysis

or security policy overall.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

understand the basic principles of sensing, signal processing, weapon guidance,stealth, armor protection, armor penetration, communication, and propulsion tech-

nologies; understand the concept of design tradeoffs; describe how changes in one major feature of a design will affect others; and anticipate countermeasures to new systems and describe the limitations and adapta-

tions such countermeasures will require.

Of course, these are demanding objectives and we do not expect you to master them all

in a semester; ones skills in assessing technology should grow throughout ones career. We

do, however, expect you to display a basic awareness of the issues involved in each learning

objective, and a grasp of the key skills at a level appropriate to a promising junior professional

in the field. The greater the attainment demonstrated, the stronger the grade you should ex-

pect, and the grading system and course requirements are designed to evaluate your progressin these specific tasks.

Course Mechanics

Weekly meetings will combine six lectures to present critical material not covered in

readings, and eight discussion seminars. When we lecture, outlines will be distributed via

Blackboard the day before the class. These outlines will take the form of the powerpoint slides


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we will use in lecture; we recommend you print them out and bring them to class to simplify

note taking. The slides per se will not be sufficient in themselves for success in the exam, so

note-taking will be necessary, but printed slides should make the note taking easier.

Discussion sections will focus on dissecting the design choices associated with selected

weapon and military equipment programs, and assessing possible countermeasures and coun-

ter-countermeasures that follow from these. The associated readings are intended to providedescriptive details on these programs so as to enable meaningful discussion. It is important to

do these readings in advance of the assigned meeting. The discussion classes are critical for

mastering the learning objectives around which the exam and short papers are designed; the

other assigned reading is important too, but can usually be done when your schedule permits.

By contrast, the assignments associated with the seminar discussions must be read in advance

if you are to succeed in the course.

We will focus throughout on technology for continental warfaremeaning combat ac-

tions on or above major land massesusing conventional weapons. We thus exclude war at

sea, and the use of nuclear, biological, or chemical munitions. This is not meant to suggest

that naval warfare or weapons of mass destruction are unimportant. But we cannot cover alltopics of importance in appropriate depth in a single semester; the choices of emphasis and

de-emphasis here reflect only the need to avoid superficiality.

The reading load will average about 150 pages per week. Readings associated with lec-

tures are usually longer, but can be completed when convenient for you; they will be covered

on the final exam, but will not be discussed extensively in class. The readings associated with

the seminar discussions are much shorter, but must be completed prior to the seminar where

they will be discussed. All readings are available on reserve in the library; where possible,

electronic versions are posted on Blackboard, and URLs for downloadable versions are given

in the reading list below.

Course requirements are a take-home final exam, two short essays, and active class par-ticipation.

The final exam will be distributed via email 48 hours before it is due, and will empha-

size, per the learning objectives for the course, your ability to weigh design tradeoffs and

evaluate measure-countermeasure dynamics. It will therefore center on a series of essay ques-

tions presenting pairs of weapon or equipment programs that we will not previously have cov-

ered in class, which you will be asked to assess using the skills and techniques we have cov-

ered. There will also be short-answer questions to evaluate your grasp of the lectures and as-

signed readings, but the heart of the exam will be the technology assessment essays.

As preparation for this exam, you will also be required to prepare two short, graded es-

says (each a maximum of 2,500 words) assessing technologies to be covered in particularseminar discussions. You may choose any two of the seminar session topics from the semester

for this requirement. For each, the essay is due at the beginning of the associated class.

To give you an appropriate incentive for discussion preparation, we will also grade class

participation, albeit for only ten percent of the semester grade. This evaluation will cover both

the quantity and the quality of your contributions to our deliberations, but the latter will weigh

more heavily than the former.


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Course Requirements and Grading

Final exam 50%

Short Essay I 20%

Short Essay II 20%

Participation 10%

Final grades will be curved to a roughly B+ median.

The GW Academic Integrity Code is in effect for this course.

Outline of Class Meetings

Introduction to the course, and

Lecture I: Principles of technology assessment January 16

Ground Combat Vehicles

Lecture II: Principles of ground combat vehicle technology January 23

Seminar discussion January 30

Seminar discussion February 6

Sensors and Guidance

Lecture III: Principles of sensor and guidance technology February 13


Ordnance: Missiles and BombsLecture IV: Principles of missile and bomb technology February 27

Seminar discussion March 6

Spring Break: no class meeting March 13


Aircraft

Lecture V: Principles of military aircraft technology March 27

Seminar discussion April 3


Communications Systems

Lecture VI: Principles of military communication technology April 17


Take home final exam: distributed May 8, 12:00 noon; due May 10, 12:00 noon


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Reading List

Lecture I: Principles of technology assessment January 16

Natasha McCarthy, Engineering A Beginners Guide (Oxford: One WorldPress), pp 67-86

J. F. C. Fuller,Armament and History(New York: Charles Scribners Sons,1945), pp. 1-23.

Pierre Sprey, The Case for Better and Cheaper Weapons, in Asa Clark et al.,eds., The Defense Reform Debate(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,

1984), pp. 193-210

Jeffrey McKitrick and Peter Chiarelli, Defense Reform: An Appraisal, in AsaClark et al., eds., The Defense Reform Debate(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni-

versity Press, 1984), pp. 309-327; read only pp. 309-310, 319-322.

T.W. Lee,Military Technologies of the World, 2 vols., (Praeger, 2008), pp. xx-xx

Lecture II: Principles of ground combat vehicle technology January 23 Robert Citino,Armored Forces: History and Sourcebook(Greenwood, 1994),

pp. 105-141.

Jonathan House, Combined Arms Warfare in the Twentieth Century(Law-rence: University Press of Kansas, 2001), pp. 231-268

R.G. Lee,Introduction to Battlefield Weapons Systems and Technology, (Ox-ford: Brasseys Defence Publishers, 1985), pp. 1-29.

I.F.B. Tytler, et al., Vehicles and Bridging(Oxford: Brasseys Defence Pub-lishers, 1985), pp. 41-52

Seminar discussion January 30

M1-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), M2- MilitaryPeriscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download) Christopher Fass, ed,Janes Armour and Artillery 2001-2002, (Coulsdon:

Janes Information Group, 2001), PzH 2000, pp. 598-600, 122mm, pp.

622-624, 152mm, pp. 620-622, M107, pp. 636-637, M-109, pp. 640-

645, M-110, pp. 634-635.


Stryker-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Leclerc-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), T-64-Military Peri-

scope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), T-72-Military Periscope, (Mili-

taryPeriscope.com download), M-60-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeri-scope.com download), AMX-10-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com

download), AMX-13-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download),

AMX-30-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download).

Lecture III: Principles of sensor and guidance technology February 13

Alfred Price, War in the Fourth Dimension: U.S. Electronic Warfare from Vi-etnam to the Present(Greenhill, 2001), pp. 54-71, 257-262.


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Rebecca Grant, The Radar Game: Understanding Stealth and Aircraft Surviv-ability(Arlington: IRIS, 2010), Winning the Radar Game, pp. 29-36 and

Stealth and Electronic Countermeasures, pp. 50-53.

(http://www.aef.org/Mitchell/reports/MS_RadarGame_0910.pdf)

J.C. Toomay and Paul J. Hannen,Radar Principles for the Non-Specialist,(Scitech Publishing),pp. 1-11, 43-50, 111-124

A.L. Rodgers, et al., Surveillance and Target Acquisition Systems(Oxford:Brasseys), pp. 1-7, 69-73, 85-86, 173-178


(USA)-AN-APG-73-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download),AN/SPY-1 Aegis-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download),

AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com down-

load)

Edward Downs, ed.,JanesAvionics 2001-2002(Coulsdon: Janes Infor-mation Group, 2001), AN/APY-3, p. 595

Suggested: Uncooled Detectors for Thermal Imaging(http://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdf), Hurley FAQs, (http://www.hurleyir.com/faqs.html), Defense Industrial

Base Assessment: U.S. Imagaing and Sensors Industry, Chap II Technology

Overview.

http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2006/wholereportwithappendices10_12_06.pdf

Lecture IV: Principles of missile and bomb technology February 27

Donald I. Blackwelder, The Long Road to Desert Storm and Beyond: The De-velopment of Precision Guided Bombs(Maxwell AFB, AL: Air University

Press, 1993), pp. 22-52. (http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-

bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA425579)

Michael Russell Rip and James M. Hasik, The Precision Revolution: GPS andthe Future of Aerial Warfare(Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002), pp.

14-48, 452-456.


AIM9-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), AIM54-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), AIM120-Military

Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), ALARM-Military Periscope,

(MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Harm-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeri-

scope.com download), Harpoon-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com

download), Patriot-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download),

Paveway II-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Pa-veway II GBU10-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download),

Paveway III-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Stand-

ard SM3-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Stinger-

Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download).

Spring Break: no class meeting March 13
http://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdfhttp://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdfhttp://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdfhttp://www.hurleyir.com/faqs.htmlhttp://www.hurleyir.com/faqs.htmlhttp://www.hurleyir.com/faqs.htmlhttp://www.hurleyir.com/faqs.htmlhttp://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdfhttp://www.flir.com/uploadedfiles/Eurasia/MMC/Appl_Stories/AS_0015_EN.pdf


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Dragon-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Hellfire-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), Javelin-Military Per-

iscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com download), JDAM-Military Periscope,

(MilitaryPeriscope.com download), LOSAT-Military Periscope, (Military-

Periscope.com download), TOW-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.comdownload), Maverick-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com down-

load).

Lecture V: Principles of military aircraft technology March 27

John Olson, ed.,A History of Air Warfare(Potomac, 2010), Chapter 11, Ben-jamin Lambeth Operation Enduring Freedom, 2011, pp255-277 and Chapter

12, William Murray, Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003, pp. 279-296

Mike Spick,Modern Fighters(Washington, D.C: Brasseys, 2000), pp. 6-45,74-77, 94-103, 132-139

D. Raymer,Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach(AIAA Education Series,2011), pp. xx-xx


Stratofortress (USA)-B-52-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.comdownload), Lancer (USA)-B-1B-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com

download), AGM-86 ALCM-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com

download), (USA)-AC-130H Spectre gunship-Military Periscope, (Military-

Periscope.com download)

Mark Lambert, ed.,Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1990-1991(Coulsdon:Janes Information Group, 1990), B-52, p. 389, B2, pp. 471-473

Paul Jackson, ed.,Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1999-2000(Coulsdon:Janes Information Group, 1990), B2- Spirit, pp. 705-708, C-130J, pp.

682-685.


Paul Jackson, ed.,Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 2001-2002(Coulsdon:Janes Information Group, 2001), F-15, pp. 575-577, F-16, pp. 689-698,

F-22, pp. 677-682, Mig-29, pp. 389-396

Mark Lambert, ed.,Janes All The Worlds Aircraft 1990-1991(Coulsdon:Janes Information Group, 1990), F-15C/D Eagle, pp. 447-449.

F-5A Freedom Fighter-Military Periscope, (MilitaryPeriscope.com down-load)


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Lecture VI: Principles of military communication technology April 17

Christopher Sterling, ed.,Military Communications: From Ancient Times tothe 21st Century(ABC-Clio, 2007), entries on: Army Battlefield Command

System, pp. 34-35, Communications Satellites, pp. 92-96, Communications

Security, pp. 96-97, Electronice Countermeasures/Electronic Warfare, pp. 137-

139, Global Information Grid, pp. 192-193, Gul War, pp. 201-204, Iraq War,pp. 240-242, Jamming, pp. 248-250, Joint Tactical Information Distribution

System, pp. 256-258, Joint Tactical Radio System, pp. 258-259, Single Chan-

nel Ground and Airborne Radio System, p. 412, Spectrum Frequen-

cies/Management, pp. 420-425, Spread Spectrum, pp. 508-509.

Martin Van Creveld, Command in War(Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1987), pp. 1-11, 261-275, Satellite Communications, pp. 390-394

A.M. Willcox, M.G. Slade, and P.A. Ramsdale, Command, Control and Com-munications (C

3), (Oxford: Brasseys), pp. 7-19


John Williamson, ed,Janes Military Communications 2001-2002, (Coulsdon:Janes Information Group, 2001), AN/PRC-1177, p. 83, AN/PRC-77, p.

76, AN/PRC-148, p. 82, SINCGARS, pp.107-108.

Documents

Assessing Military Technology Biddle Spring 2013