November 9, 2012
Viewing network-centric warfare as picture-centric warfare makes UAVs the strike weapons of the future, as opposed to manned strike aircraft. Moreover, UAVs can be a disruptive technology which has even further ramifications.
Dr. Norman Friedman is a defense analyst concerned primarily with the interaction between technology and tactical, strategic, and policy issues. He was a staff member and then Deputy Director of National Security Studies of the Hudson Institute from 1973 through 1984. He served as a consultant to the Secretary of the Navy (in the Office of Program Appraisal, 1984-94) and to various defense contractors. He has lectured at the Naval War College, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, the Air War College, the Australian and Canadian junior and senior national staff colleges, the Royal United Services Institute, the British Ministry of Defence, and at a series of seminars for the Naval Air Systems Command managed by the University of Virginia. Recent publications include: Net Centric Warfare (2009), Unmanned Combat Air Systems: A New Kind of Carrier Aviation (2010), and British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After (2011). Dr Friedman received his Ph.D. in solid-state physics from Columbia University, following research at the IBM Watson Research Center.