Empowering Joint Operations Planning with Intelligentization
■ Yang Lan
Introduction
Joint operations planning, as the nerve center for organizing and employing joint combat forces, directly determines the outcome of war through the degree to which it is scientific, precise, and efficient. At present, with the deep penetration of artificial intelligence technology into the military domain, joint operations planning is undergoing a systemic transformation from "human-led, machine-assisted" to "human-machine integration, mutually complementary" (人机融合、互为补充). This transformation has produced a major impact on the underlying logic and operational modes of joint operations planning. We must profoundly grasp the inherent laws of intelligentized warfare (智能化战争), empower joint operations planning with intelligentization (智能化), and accelerate the construction of a joint operations planning capability system suited to future intelligentized warfare.
Consolidating the Data Foundation, Laying the Groundwork for Intelligentized Digitization
Data is the core element of intelligentized warfare. Laying a solid data foundation is the necessary prerequisite for joint operations planning to shift from "experience-driven" to "data-driven." Under traditional forms of warfare, data was merely reference information that assisted commanders in judging the battlefield situation. In intelligentized warfare, however, data has become the "blood" and "skeleton" of the combat system, running through the entire process of joint operations planning: from battlefield situational awareness, analysis of operational objectives, and organization of combat forces, to the generation of operational plans and assessment of operational effects—every link is inseparable from data support. The completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of data directly determine the precision and speed of intelligentized planning. From this perspective, without high-quality data support, empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization becomes water without a source and a tree without roots.
At a deeper level, data is the foundation for constructing battlefield digital twins and the bridge for achieving resonance between the physical battlefield and the virtual battlefield. With the support of intelligentized technology, we can collect, process, and analyze massive volumes of battlefield data, constructing in digital space a virtual mirror image highly consistent with the physical battlefield, thereby achieving real-time mapping of the battlefield situation, simulation and deduction of the operational process, and prediction and forecasting of operational outcomes. This digital twin capability enables joint operations planning to break through the constraints of physical time and space, conducting thorough deduction and verification of all possible situations before combat, thereby greatly improving the scientific rigor and feasibility of planning. At the same time, data is also the "fuel" for algorithm training; only by possessing sufficiently rich battlefield data can intelligent algorithm models capable of adapting to complex and ever-changing battlefield environments be continuously refined.
Therefore, empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization requires adhering to a data-first construction philosophy. First, a unified data standards system must be established to standardize data formats, interfaces, and semantics, resolve the heterogeneity problem of multi-source data, and achieve interconnection, interoperability, and shared exchange of data across different services and branches, different domains, and different systems. Second, a data collection network with full-domain coverage and multi-source fusion must be constructed, comprehensively employing various reconnaissance and sensing means across land, sea, air, space, electromagnetic, and cyber domains to obtain in real time full-dimensional data on the battlefield environment, enemy forces, and friendly force situations, forming a data collection capability covering the full spatial and temporal dimensions of operations. Third, data governance capability must be strengthened; through technical means such as data cleansing, deduplication, verification, and fusion, the accuracy, consistency, and credibility of data must be improved to provide continuous and stable data support for empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization.
Emphasizing Human-Machine Integration, Reshaping the Intelligentized Decision-Making Mode
In current intelligentized construction, artificial intelligence systems have already acquired comparatively powerful computational, storage, and learning capabilities, enabling rapid processing of massive data and generation of multiple operational plans, making them an indispensable force in joint operations planning under informatized and intelligentized conditions. But casting one's gaze toward the more distant future battlefield and the conduct of intelligentized warfare, artificial intelligence algorithms also have obvious limitations: they lack human creativity, imagination, and value judgment capability; they cannot understand the political nature of war and strategic intent; they cannot cope with unconventional situations and moral dilemmas that may arise in war; and they are ill-suited to adapt to the accelerating tempo and highly complex characteristics of future intelligentized warfare.
Therefore, in empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization, we cannot be satisfied merely with the "human-led, machine-assisted" decision-making mode in which human capability and machine capability are simply superimposed. Instead, we must pursue deep integration of human creative thinking and machine computational thinking, striving to realize a new decision-making mode of "human-machine integration, mutually complementary." Under the dominance of this mode, humans are responsible for determining operational objectives, formulating strategic plans, grasping the direction of war, and making final decisions; machines must understand human decision-making intent at a higher dimension and carry it through into processing data, generating plans, simulating deductions, and assessing effects—thereby both better leveraging the speed and precision advantages of machines and maximally unleashing the creativity and flexibility advantages of humans, achieving a multiplying effect of "1+1>2."
Reshaping the intelligentized decision-making mode for joint operations planning requires simultaneous effort on two fronts: personnel cultivation and technology research and development. In personnel cultivation, vigorous efforts must be made to develop composite military planning personnel who understand both military affairs and technology, to enhance the digital literacy and intelligent literacy (智能素养) of operational planning personnel at all levels, enabling them to skillfully employ intelligent planning tools, understand the logic and limitations of algorithms, and achieve efficient coordination with intelligent systems. In technology research and development, key breakthroughs must be made in human-machine interaction, knowledge graphs, reinforcement learning, and other critical technologies to enhance the autonomy and adaptability of intelligent systems, enabling them to better understand human intent and adapt to complex and ever-changing battlefield environments. At the same time, a "dual human-machine loop" (人机双回路) planning training mode can be established, treating intelligent systems as an important "partner" in human planning training; through normalized human-machine collaborative training, the degree of tacit coordination in human-machine integration and planning capability can be continuously improved, thereby enhancing the adaptability and decision-making level of joint operations planning in complex battlefield environments.
Deepening System-of-Systems Optimization, Enhancing Overall Intelligentized Effectiveness
The essence of joint operations is the confrontation of system against system. This determines that empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization is not the intelligentization of a single link or single domain, but rather the system-of-systems optimization (体系聚优) of all capabilities across the entire combat system. The effective generation of combat effectiveness depends on deep coordination among all combat elements and all combat systems. In previous joint operations planning, breaking down the information barriers and institutional and mechanistic obstacles among the various services and branches and domains, and achieving integrated employment of combat forces, has always been a goal we have pursued without letup. The development of intelligentized technology provides an excellent means and method for breaking down these barriers and obstacles, making it possible to better construct an intelligentized joint operations planning system that is fully domain-integrated and highly coordinated.
From the perspective of systems theory, the intelligentized joint operations planning system is a complex open system; its overall effectiveness does not come from the "stacking" of its component parts, but rather from the emergent effects produced by the synergistic interaction among the various elements within the system. From this perspective, only by achieving system-of-systems optimization can the advantages of intelligentized planning be fully realized, enabling precise scheduling of combat forces and precise control of combat actions, thereby forming overall combat effectiveness. Otherwise, intelligentized planning will become an "information island" (信息孤岛), unable to be converted into actual combat power. Therefore, the intelligentized joint operations planning system must be deeply bound to combat systems such as the command and control system, the reconnaissance and intelligence system, the fire strike system, and the integrated support system, achieving data interoperability, information sharing, process linkage, and functional complementarity to form an organic whole.
At the practical level, a system-of-systems construction approach can be adhered to in reconstructing the technical system and organizational system of joint operations planning. At the technical level, a unified intelligent cloud platform must be built to provide powerful computing, storage, and algorithm services to planning nodes at all levels; edge computing nodes must be deployed to achieve real-time processing of battlefield data and local decision-making; and a fully domain-interconnected communications network must be constructed to ensure the free flow of information among all planning nodes. At the organizational level, a flattened planning and command structure must be established to reduce command echelons, delegate decision-making authority, and grant frontline planning nodes greater autonomy; modular planning teams must be formed, flexibly organized according to different operational tasks to achieve cross-domain, cross-departmental collaborative planning, striving to achieve "distributed deployment, centralized management and control, networked coordination" (分布式部署、集中式管控、网络化协同)—both fully leveraging the initiative and creativity of each planning node and ensuring unified command and coordination of the entire planning system.
Fortifying the Security Line, Ensuring Reliable Intelligentized Operation
While intelligentization brings enormous effectiveness improvements to joint operations planning, it also brings unprecedented security risks. In the process of empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization, the planning system is highly dependent on data, algorithms, and networks, and faces multi-dimensional, multi-layered security threats. For example, data, as the core resource of intelligentized planning, once stolen, tampered with, or destroyed by the enemy, will cause distortion of the battlefield situation, erroneous decisions, and may even cause the paralysis of the entire combat system. Algorithms, as the core engine of intelligentized planning, carry the risk of having backdoors implanted by the enemy or being subjected to algorithmic deception. Networks are the operational carrier of the intelligentized planning system; cyber attacks are characterized by strong concealment, great destructive power, and rapid propagation speed, and can cause serious damage to the intelligentized planning system in a short period of time.
We must clearly recognize that security and development are two sides of the same coin: development without security is unsustainable, and security without development is stagnation. The higher the degree of intelligentization, the higher the requirements for security, and the greater the risk and hidden danger posed by security vulnerabilities. Only by fortifying the security line can the reliable operation of the intelligentized joint operations planning system be ensured. Therefore, empowering joint operations planning with intelligentization must adhere to the principle of equal emphasis on development and security, integrating security protection throughout the entire process of construction.
Specifically, first, data security protection must be strengthened by establishing and improving a tiered and classified data protection system to ensure the security of data at every link of collection, transmission, storage, and use. Second, algorithm security management must be reinforced by establishing algorithm review and evaluation mechanisms to conduct rigorous review and testing of the security, reliability, and interpretability of algorithms, preventing algorithms from being exploited or attacked by the enemy. Finally, network security protection capability must be enhanced by constructing a network security system of active defense and defense-in-depth, improving the capability to monitor, provide early warning of, and respond to cyber attacks, and strengthening network survivability—thereby avoiding risks amid the intelligentization wave and firmly grasping the initiative on the future battlefield.