The Comprehensive Approach of Military Strategic Operations Planning and its support by Artificial Intelligence

Absztrakt

It is a basic requirement of successful multinational operations that the necessary resources should be at NATO’s or nations’ disposal in the required time, quantity, and quality. For this, the Contractor Support to Operations (CSO), which is one important pillar of the operations logistics support, assumes more and more roles. The contractors’ basic task is to supplement the capability- or capacity gaps showing up in the military or in the Host Nation Support. Besides this, CSO frees up military capacities and, at the same time, the military can achieve new and necessary expertise. However, the consideration to use contractors requires a thorough discretion from the early stage of the operation planning process. This should cover not only the capabilities of the potential civilian companies and the military requirements, but military planners should also take into account the interests of the enterprises that may provide support to the operations. As the demand for civilian services grows, so does the competition between national defence forces for the most suitable suppliers with the best capabilities and capacities. The authors’ aim is to draw attention to the importance of understanding the conractors’ interests and limitations, as well as to give some suggestions on harmonizing the military and civilian service providers’ goals to the benefits of both parties.