Fifth Dimension Operations
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The Fifth Dimension of Warfare complements the four classical dimensions: land, sea, air, and space. It was enunciated in 1995 as information operations.


Core U.S. military doctrine

This is part of core
U.S. Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
doctrine, that recognizes at least five dimensions, or 'domains of warfare' for which it is responsible: * Land * Sea * Air * Space * Information The origin of the concept of Fifth Dimension Operations was a criticism that the 'domain approach' reflected "a failure to think beyond the normal "four" dimensions of threats, both domestic and international".


Expansion of the concept

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


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 and one temporal dimension ". * The missing element is the fifth dimension – cyberspace, which is defined as both the "impact of the Internet and a stealth-masked terrorist on the advanced battlefield".


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 operations carried out on multiple fronts, as a continuum of interrelated activities. "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."


Merging 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 Command and influence is a component of Military C2 ('Command and control') and is a key aspect of Terrorist Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures. Definition Chris Flaherty in 2003 distinguished the concept of command and influence is a componen ...
(CI). * Decentralized
swarming Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...
, and irregular opponents. * A linguistic shift from "battleground" to " battlespace" recognizes the current reality of forces operating in a multidimensional battleground against complex opponents.


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".


Cyberwarfare/cyber-attack

A core technical component of Fifth Dimension Operations is
cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...
, and
cyber-attack A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...
s.


Information warfare

Information warfare historically as a concept, has tended to be more developed under U.S. military doctrine, and tends to favour technology, and tends to extend into the realms of Electronic Warfare, Cyber Warfare, Information Assurance and Computer Network Operations/Attack/Defense. Concurrently, a 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.John P. Sullivan and Adam Elkus. (2009) Police Operational Art for a Five-Dimensional Operational Space.
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References

{{reflist Military operations Counterterrorism Terrorism tactics Cyberwarfare