Revolution in Military Affairs Jack Watling on the Future of Warfare and the Russian Military
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Apr 18, 2024 
Jack Watling, senior research fellow at RUSI who studies land warfare and Russian operations. He discusses what makes rigorous military analysis, the value of field research versus aggregate data, risks of overreading combat videos, how tech clusters are reshaping combat, limits of robotics and human-machine teams, and why ground forces and urban terrain still matter.
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Three Pillars Of Strong Military Analysis
- Good military analysis blends technical knowledge, appreciation of friction, and the freedom to work across silos.
- Analysts add value by connecting J2 (enemy) and J5 (planning) perspectives to inform practitioners.
Validate Data With Battlefield Circulation
- Validate aggregated statistics with ground-level fieldwork to reveal causal context behind snapshots like videos or feeds.
- Combine broad staff-level breadth with deep tactical vignettes to avoid misleading extrapolation.
Technology Is Rewriting Land Warfare's Sequence
- A cluster of maturing technologies is changing the classic sequence of surprise, breakthrough, exploitation, and tempo in land warfare.
- Battlefield transparency, vulnerable hierarchies, precision fires, and urban seizure reshape operational choices.
