O comando e controle nas operações conjuntas em situações de conflito e de não guerra: crítica e perspectivas à luz da Estratégia Nacional de Defesa

Abstract

The world of the twenty-first century is distinguished by its growing complexity, speed and volatility. "New Threats" such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and transnational crimes, raise concerns in face of the crossing borders and therefore make fluid classical distinctions between internal and external security of States. The clashes of interests among actors, according to a prospective point of view, reach skeptical proportions in the history of civilization, generating fuzzy scenarios and uncertainty about the future. Given this evidence, command and control tools added inestimable value to the process of decision making, by expounding the complex political-strategic chessboard of the current world, by mitigating the uncertainties and by weighing the possible consequences of their decisions. Brazil has not stayed averse to such impacts. The foundation of the Ministry of Defense, the subsequent insertion of the three Military Force Commands beneath its organic structure and the concept of command and control have brought the umbrella of interoperability as one of its most looming pillars. Since then, the activity of command and control has attested to be of great importance for the conduct of conflicts, which can be highlighted by the earned experience from joint operations which have been taking place since then. The philosophy of this tool is to allow the decision cycle of its forces to be completed with a speed in excess of that of potential adversaries, ensuring a higher probability of success in conflict. Also, in military operations other than war, of great importance when wrestling against new threats in complex scenarios, command and control tools are essential in order to allow proper coordination between military forces and non-governmental organizations involved, notwithstanding the employment of those forces, the effective exercise control of actions in progress will not remain with them. According to the above, this work intends to analyze the frame of command and control used in conflict situations, based on joint operations which involved operational assets of the three Forces. It will also consider the requirements and features of military resources in military operations other than war, and its indispensability in face of present complex scenarios. By the end, it intends to carry out a background that aims at the likely paths to be followed by command and control within the armed forces, assigning which measures would be applied to the Brazilian Navy, as a way to contribute to the improvement of its workout.