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The US and Chinese militaries are starting to test swarming dronesdistributed collaborative systems made up of many small, cheap, unmanned aircraft. This new subset of independently operating or "autonomous" weapons is giving rise to new strategic, ethical, and legal questions. Swarming drones could offer real advantages, including reducing the loss of both human life and expensive equipment in battle. But they also come with potential dangers. There is already great international concern about deploying weapons without "meaningful human control." Proliferation is another danger, and a problem that could be particularly acute in the case of swarming drones. The risks posed by swarming drones should be considered sooner rather than later, before their destructive potential reaches maturity.

Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. IntroductionFrom fighting terrorists to stabilizing a war-torn country to waging all-out combat, military campaigns are increasingly shaped by networks that enable dispersed and disparate forces to collaborate by sharing data. Along with the high-precision sensors and weapons they connect, networks are turning information power into military power. 1Defense investment priorities are shifting from mechanized platforms and weapons to the information collectors, processors, links and services that compose these networks. With its unmatched defense resources and technological talents, the United States has pioneered networked warfare. But the United States will have company-not all of it friendly. For example, China and Al Qaeda, using very different doctrines, are showing interest in tapping the power of information. Indeed, Al Qaeda and its franchised affiliates are displaying cunning and resourcefulness in putting this power to work with virtually no investment. 2As adversaries exploit networks, the United States must seek new leverage by improving its fighters' ability to use information in war's confusing, critical, and violent conditions. 3Blessed with more, better, and timelier information, yet vexed by increasingly murky circumstances, the cognitive faculties of military decisionmakers-lieutenants no less than lieutenant generals-are more crucial than ever. In a forthcoming National Defense University book, the authors suggest why and how U.S. and allied forces should improve these faculties to attain new operational and strategic advantages, or at least to avoid the loss of the advantages they now enjoy. Although military combat is unique, the authors draw lessons from non-military sectors, including some in which urgent life-and-death decisions must be made. This paper summarizes their thinking.While this is neither the first nor the last word on why and how to gain cognitive advantage, it aims to take an integrated view, provide a geo-strategic context, broaden and heighten awareness, frame policy issues, offer preliminary advice, and indicate where research and analysis is needed.1 We will use "network" in its broadest sense, to include not only information processing systems and communication li...

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