The Australian Army in the Urban, Networked Littoral

This paper explores the urban, networked littoral and proposes concepts for control operations in this setting. The ensuing discussion considers in turn the environment, missions and threats, the operational response, and capability implications.

As we leave Afghanistan, the urban littoral will rise in importance simply because Australia’s primary operational environment (POE) is overwhelmingly littoral and increasingly urbanised. But we no longer face the littoral of which Ralph Peters or Charles Krulak wrote in the 1990s — in the pre-mobile phone era, before significant penetration of the internet into the developing world. Today we face an urban, networked littoral. The explosion of electronic connectivity changes both the environment and the threats we may encounter within it. 

This paper explores the urban, networked littoral and proposes concepts for control operations in this setting. The ensuing discussion considers in turn the environment, missions and threats, the operational response, and capability implications.