Fifth Dimension Operations

The Fifth Dimension of Warfare, was enunciated in 1995 as Information Operations.^[1]

Core U.S. Military Doctrine

This is part of core U.S. Military doctrine, that recognizes at least five dimensions, or 'domains of warfare' for which it is responsible:^[2]

• Land.
• Sea.
• Air.
• Space.
• Information.

The origin of the concept of Fifth Dimension Operations, was a criticism that the 'domain approach' reflected "s failure to think beyond the normal “four” dimensions of threats, both domestic and international."^[3]

Expansion of the Concept of Fifth Dimension Operations

In more recent times, the concept of Fifth Dimensional Operations, as a concept under military operations, has taken a wider scope, that its original information operations background, focusing on "the advanced space-time manipulating capabilities cyberspace offers".^[4] This development, was began as early as 1996, in regards to Advanced Battlespace and Cybermaneuver Concepts.^[5]

Historical Analysis

The historical analysis used to justify the concept of Fifth Dimensional Operations being developed, was the notion that:

• Land warfare was defined first by human energy (infantry) and then by animal energy (cavalry) in a three-dimensional medieval era, and then by mechanical energy in the four-dimensional modern era. The “battlespace is historically defined by three spatial dimensions {x, y, and z} and one temporal dimension {t}".^[6]
• The missing element is the fifth dimension - cyberspace, which is define as both the “impact of the Internet and a stealth-masked terrorist on the advanced battlefield”.^[7]

1995-1996 Critique of Information Operations as a Fifth Domain Approach

Core arguments, used in the development of the Concept of Fifth Dimension Operations, have been:

• The view that each of the five dimensions/domains - Land, Sea, Air, Space and Information, should not be viewed as compartmentalized elements.
• The Battlespace, needs to be seen as an integrated whole, and that operations occurred on multiple fronts, as a continuum of interrelated activities.^[8][9][10]

This was based on the criticism that the traditional concepts of the “battlefield” are outmoded, primarily because they only deal with four dimensions (length, width, the vertical dimension, and time, or the temporal aspect), and not with the fifth dimension, cyber; and "that the future effectiveness of the U.S. Army is limited by its belief that the “battlespace is composed of separate, discrete physical and electromagnetic dimensions”.^[11] Another key concept, in developing Fifth Dimension Operations, is the recognition:
"there is now a technological solution - an approach that makes possible the feat of entering the opponent's decision making loop via the imaginative use of information technology. In the sense, its key contribution is that it conceptually presupposes that as we move into the Information Age new possibilities are realized as the ability to enter into the mind of the opponent becomes reality, not merely guessing at their motives and actions, but molding and directing them as well."^[12]

Merging of Fifth Dimension Operations with the Multidimensional Battlespace

The concept of a Five-Dimensional Operational space, is based on the notion, that there is a structural dimension to modern-day tactics and operational art, and that this has developed from the challenge posed by:

• Information age Command and Control (C2) technology, as well as Command and Influence (CI).^[13]
• Decentralized swarming, and irregular opponents.
• A linguistic shift from “battleground” to “battlespace” recognizes the current reality of forces operating in a multidimensional battleground against complex opponents^[14]

Current Formulation of Fifth Dimension Operations

The current formulation of the concept of Fifth Dimension Operations is that "battlefield dominance in a future war will depend on “total cyberspace dominance—not just digital battlespace dominance”.^[15]

Relationship to Three-Dimensional (3D) Tactics Analysis

The Concept of Fifth Dimension Operations, is conceptually based on adding the "five-dimensional, holistic approach to warfare that uses the three dimensions of land, sea, and aerospace but also incorporates the temporal and cyber dimensions of warfare.^[16]

Cyberwarfare/Cyber-Attack

A core technical component of Fifth Dimension Operations is Cyberwarfare, and Cyber-attack.^[17] In Fifth Dimension Operations, the concept of 'Cyber-Attack', is defined as: “the totality of the communication and interaction between fielded forces. Thus, a cyber attack means an attack that manipulates the ‘data’ that is exchanged in the process of communication. And, the more data disrupted or destroyed, the more effective the attack".^[18]

Information Warfare and Fifth Dimension Operations

Information Warfare historically as a concept, has tended to be more developed under U.S. Military doctrine, and tends to favor technology, and tends to extend into the realms of Electronic Warfare, Cyber Warfare, Information Assurance and Computer Network Operations/Attack/Defense. Concurrently, a more broader term of Information Operations has developed combining the making use of technology, as well as focusing on the more human-related aspects of information use, including social network analysis, decision analysis and the human aspects of Command and Control. This broader view has become the basis for Fifth Dimension Operations.^[19]

Application to Terrorism Analysis

The application of Fifth Dimension Operations to terrorism analysis has been developing the concept that: "terrorists hide in a “virtual” domain that cannot be reached using “organic camouflage, sympathetic social spaces, or aspects of cyberspace to mask their activities”.^[20]

• Opposing forces tend to blend into the community at large after engaging traditional military forces affording them camouflage, since today’s asymmetrical warrior looks much like the civilians they terrorize.
• Cyberspace is the online corollary to this form of camouflage, since it affords anonymity to groups with the technological expertise to use it such as Al-Qaeda.
• The cyber dimension of the battle space as “the infosphere, organic and cyber forms of camouflage, the cyber element of deployed forces, critical electromagnetic infrastructure in the battlespace, and C2 (Command and Control) networks”.^[21]
• Dominance in this form of the battlespace will require, “recognizing that cyberspace is an inherent component of battlespace,” as well as sensors to “identify and locate criminals and terrorists hiding outside human sensing capabilities,” including devices to detect explosives on the tactical level, and biometric devices to identify terrorists and criminals on the strategic level.^[22]

New Concept in Command-and-Control Models

A core idea in Fifth Dimension Operations, is a remodeling of the traditional concept of C2 (Command and Control), which is characterized as "expertise and authority is placed at a central location, usually referred to as the command post".^[23] However, in Fifth Dimension Operations, the more complex the tactical situation (particularly those involving nuclear, biological, and/or chemical threats), there is a greater need for the expertise of those not usually associated with tactical situations, including professors, scientists, and engineers located at distant facilities. These problems can be overcome with the creation of a “cyber command post” where, through the use of cellular, video, and VOIP technology, the geographically distant Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) bring to bear on the tactical situation their unique expertise.

References