View the information-based battlefield environment system from network-centric warfare (NCW)

Battlefield environment is a general designation for all kinds of objective things and conditions which surround battlefield and affect military actions. With the development of modern high technology, and information technology, traditional battlefield environment is developing in the both factors of space and constitutive, and takes on an integrated tendency. The U.S. military consider that the war of information age is NCW, and to successfully implement the theory of the NCW capabilities, the four domains of warfare-physical, information, cognitive, social, and their relationship must be understood. According to the theory of system, this paper puts forward the conception of Battlefield Environment System and its tetrahedron structure. The correlation of constitutive factors in Generalized Battlefield Environment System and the relationship between Generalized Battlefield Environment System and NCW are analyzed. Moreover, the spatial scope and constitutive factors of Specific Battlefield Environment System are also discussed.