Army focused on core mission

The war in Europe didn’t start with a shot or a bomb. The Russian attacks first took place in the data clutter of the Internet, carried out silently by hackers often not even directly connected to the Kremlin. War, the chameleon, as the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz called it, has taken another shape with technological development.

But it was only when the Russian army invaded Ukraine, using physical violence by military means, that its true face was revealed again: it is war when people die, when cities are destroyed and – in the literal sense – regions are devastated. This is exactly where the Federal Council ties in with the military “overall concept for cyber”. The army should concentrate on the core of its mission: defense and thus preventing war.

Replacement of wrapping paper and felt-tip pen

A main focus of the skills is therefore the protection of their own infrastructure: not only on the Internet, the actual cyberspace, but above all in the electromagnetic space, i.e. where data is transmitted by radio. In the “combined arms battle”, the coordinated deployment of tanks, aircraft and artillery, secure connections for communication and command are key.

The obvious lack of coordination is probably one of the reasons why the Russian army, despite its superiority, cannot assert itself. The different types of weapons must be able to be managed from a single source. It is therefore right that the army is counting on the digitization of its central command instruments. This does not mean apps for shifting shifts, but, among other things, an integral situation picture for all levels.

There is an urgent need for action in this area. The “Overall Concept Cyber” reads between the lines like a status report on the current situation. The Swiss army is still a long way from the smartphone age. Instead of using a digital national map, the tactical level – with the exception of artillery – is mainly managed with packing paper and felt-tip pens.

Interoperability below the war threshold

The cyber report from the defense department soberly relies on the connections between all parts of the army and thus on their functionality. There is no contemporary vision of a high-tech troupe. The army’s “raison d’être” is not glorified with the magic word “cyber”, as has often happened in recent years.

The Russian army’s conventional attack on Ukraine is a calculated eruption of violence, an episode in a dramaturgy. Another phase of ambiguous conflict will follow. Therefore, when implementing the cyber concept, attention must be paid to the interoperability of a digitized army: the ability to work together with partners far below the war threshold and also to train before it is too late.

Digitized version of “Security through Cooperation”

The Cyber ​​Report also points in the right direction in this area. What is almost completely missing are considerations as to how the Swiss army can dock with NATO’s systems. So far, the political framework for this has simply not existed. However, this has changed. Switzerland is in the process of renegotiating the concept of neutrality. Closer cooperation with the military neighbors is suddenly conceivable again.

A functioning overall system consisting of all elements on the ground, in the air and also in the non-physical spaces at the highest technological level is Switzerland’s most effective contribution to European security – and the basic condition for closer ties with NATO. The military cyber concept, like the reports on the renewal of the ground forces and the air force, is a good basis.

Almost as important as internal networking are clearly defined, practiced interfaces of the management systems for concrete cooperation. Now is the right moment to create favorable conditions: for a digitized new edition of the “Security through cooperation” concept, which was mothballed for a short time. The time of security policy thinking bans is over.