Thought is the forerunner of action. To win the future information war, we must change the traditional concept of mechanized operations and establish an advanced concept of information operations. The traditional concept of mechanized combat is based on mechanized weapons and equipment and aims at improving operational efficiency. The concept of "efficient combat" reflects the essential law of combat under the condition of mechanized warfare, and has universal guiding significance for giving full play to the combat capability of mechanized weapons and equipment and confronting high-tech enemies based on our existing equipment. However, in the face of the "leap-forward" development of our army, "efficient combat", as an "extensive" operational concept, can not give full play to the operational capability of information-based weapons and equipment characterized by precise control and can not meet the needs of guiding future information-based operations. Under the guidance of Scientific Outlook on Development, we must give full play to the advantages of information forces and establish the concept of "effective combat" with the goal of improving operational efficiency. Benefit and efficiency are two different indexes to evaluate combat effectiveness. As we all know, benefit is based on efficiency. Without efficiency, there can be no high benefit. But efficiency emphasizes the relationship between effect and time. As long as the effect per unit time is large, the efficiency is high. Benefit emphasizes the relationship between effect and time, and also emphasizes the relationship between input and effect. Only with small investment and high efficiency can high benefits be produced. During the mechanized war, due to the relative backwardness of information technology, the army's ability to control combat operations is relatively insufficient, and there are many uncertain factors in combat. Usually, it is to concentrate several times the enemy's troops, carry out "cover-up" attacks on the enemy, and control a strong reserve to deal with emergencies in combat. Although this kind of "efficient combat" increases the assurance of winning, it will consume a lot of battles and cause great collateral damage because of too much investment and extensive combat methods. "Benefit Operation" pursues the high benefit of operation, and the high benefit of operation is based on the high informationization of weapons and equipment. By accurately grasping the battlefield information, investing appropriate and sufficient military weapons and carrying out a "point-to-point" precision strike against the enemy, while pursuing the greatest victory, we will strive to minimize the investment and minimize the incidental losses in the operation, which is conducive to giving full play to the advantages of the information-based army's strong operational control ability. "Benefit Operation" aims at destroying the enemy's combat capability, which is more in line with the needs of rational development of human war than "efficiency operation" aiming at destroying the enemy.
The combination of highly developed modern information technology and weapons and equipment produces precision guided weapons, which makes the tactical and technical performance of weapons and equipment have a qualitative leap. Similarly, the concept of "efficient warfare" can be produced by combining information technology with the concept of "efficient warfare". If "efficient warfare" is a concept of "accidental warfare", then "effective warfare" is a further concept of "skillful warfare" on the basis of "accidental warfare". With the improvement of the damage ability of weapons and equipment, the destructiveness of war is becoming more and more serious. The appearance of nuclear weapons makes the destructiveness of weapons and equipment far beyond the political purpose of war. When describing the nuclear war, former Soviet President Gorbachev said that there will be no winner in the future war, because people can't sit at the negotiating table after the war, and I'm afraid they can't even find a complete stone. In this case, if we blindly pursue the high damage rate of combat, it may bring endless disasters to all mankind, which will certainly run counter to the needs of human beings in pursuing civilization and development. At the turn of the century, the rapid development of modern science and technology with information technology as the core has made human history enter the information age from the industrial age. At the same time, the new military revolution in the world is booming. With the development of information technology and its wide application in the army, the informationization degree of military weapons and equipment is getting higher and higher, and the tactical and technical performance has made a qualitative leap. In the recent local wars, the armed forces of developed countries with a high degree of informationization, relying on their advanced information weapons and equipment, seized and firmly controlled the information control right by means of long-range precision strikes, and won the wars with the armed forces of underdeveloped countries still in the mechanization period. In order to adapt to the new situation of information warfare and achieve the goal of "winning", we must take Scientific Outlook on Development as the guide, deeply study the essential laws of information warfare, make the concept of "benefit warfare" concrete and scientific from China's national conditions and military situation, and establish an information warfare theory with our military characteristics to guide our military's information construction.
To win the future information war, we must take Scientific Outlook on Development as the guide and improve our army's information combat capability. At present, the modernization of our army has entered a new stage of development with informationization as the goal. In the coming period, our army's construction will be in a critical period of overall transformation, structural adjustment and substantial leap in combat capability, and all aspects of army construction are changing: the army's structure will undergo major changes, and the technical complexity and intensity will increase significantly; The relationship between combat and army building has changed greatly, and the importance of strengthening the scientific design of army building has obviously increased; Great changes have taken place in the way the state protects the armed forces, and the dependence of the armed forces on economy, science and technology and society has obviously increased; The cost of military construction has changed greatly, and the requirements for scientific decision-making and improving the efficiency of military use have obviously improved. In the process of this transformation, our army will face the contradiction between its combat capability and the requirement of winning the information war in a long period of time: first, the contradiction between the national security demand and the army's insufficient ability to provide security support; Second, the contradiction between the military system adapted to the requirements of information warfare and the current organizational system of our army; Third, the contradiction between the high demand for talents and the low quality of some officers and men in building an information-based army; Fourth, the contradiction between the large demand for resources in the modernization of the army and the lack of military spending and unreasonable use. These contradictions show that there are still some incomplete, uncoordinated and unsustainable problems in the construction of our army's combat effectiveness. Under the guidance of Scientific Outlook on Development, it is extremely urgent to improve the information-based combat capability.
According to the current actual situation, under the guidance of Scientific Outlook on Development, to improve the information-based combat capability, we should do the following: First, focus on improving the integrated joint combat capability. In order to meet the requirements of winning the future information war, our army must vigorously strengthen the information construction of the army and greatly improve its combat capability. It is necessary to improve the evaluation method of combat capability with improving the integrated joint combat capability as the core and improving the combat capability as the main goal. The second is to lead the development of the army with informationization. At present, because the task of mechanization construction has not been completed, our army is faced with the dual task of mechanization and informatization. Informatization has become the core content of our military modernization. Therefore, we should correctly handle the relationship between mechanization and informatization, and persist in leading the development of the army with informatization. The third is to strengthen comprehensive integration. Comprehensive integration is the basic idea and method of building an information-based army. Our army should focus on the rapid flow of information and the enjoyment of resources, give full play to the role of information technology, use system theory to make overall planning, strengthen top-level design, pay attention to the integration of command elements, fire platforms and support forces according to systems, and vigorously promote the integration of weapons and equipment technology, command and control functions, combat forces and support support forces, and various standards and norms. Fourth, relying on science and technology to promote the development of the army. It is necessary to implement the strategy of strengthening the army through science and technology, effectively transform the scientific and technological strength of the country and society into the combat capability of the army, organically unify the exertion of strong political advantages with the exertion of limited scientific and technological advantages, and increase investment in science and technology and education, which not only promotes the rapid transformation of science and technology into weapons and equipment, but also enables science and technology to enter leadership decision-making, operational command, education and training, administrative management, political work and logistics support. The fifth is to adhere to independent innovation. In order to meet the challenge of the new military revolution, our army should strengthen the concept of independent innovation. On the one hand, we should abandon the Soviet model left over from history, on the other hand, we should absorb the experience of the developed countries' armed forces, innovate the information development model according to the idea of "learning from others and not being controlled by others", and embark on a development path with advanced China characteristics. Sixth, adhere to sustainable development. We should correctly handle the relationship between the present and the long-term, and at the same time pay attention to preparing for the military struggle in the new period and overcome the short-term behavior that only cares about the present. We must vigorously strengthen strategic planning, seek long-term and governance, and form a benign interaction between current construction and long-term development.