A significant element supporting this explosion in applied information
and other technologies is the American free enterprise system and its
entrepreneurial character. This drive is needed to translate this
technology into military hardware. The nature of the U.S. market and
its competitive basis reinforce this element. The largest challenges
may be to shape and exploit this commercial potential and then to
ensure that its enduring advantages become fundamental in the makeup
of our military forces. Unlike the defense industrial base required
during the Cold War, this new commercial base is neither heavy nor is
it a massive industry relying on producing large things. Indeed, its
edge has depended on getting "smaller, smarter, and cheaper."

The fundamental technology thrust for channeling this new American
industrial base to support Rapid Dominance must be toward the control
and management of everything that is significant to the operations
bearing on the particular Area of Interest (AOI). And we mean
everything! Control of the environment is far broader than only the
objective of achieving dominant battlefield awareness. Control means
the ability to change, to a greater or lesser degree, the "signatures"
of all of the combat forces engaged in the AOI. With this concept, the
operational frameworks in applying force across the entire spectrum of
platforms (satellites, aircraft, land vehicles, ships) can be measured
(and controlled) from many minus decibels of cross section, to many
plus decibels; communications can be entirely covert, i.e., many dB
less than the ambient environment, or that approaching "white noise."
The location of both the individual and his unit can be measured in
real time in meters, if not feet, anywhere in the world. Through
virtual reality, movement in three-dimensional grids over hundreds of
square kilometers, offer precise location and movement control, both