Drones and reconnaissance blurring lines between military, mercenaries and even civilians. A Dutch University gave support to interception of Russian battlefield communications ... Ukraine is everyone's war ... plugging the theory of amateur games and valuable war experience.

Command and Control in a Digital Age: The U.S. Army's Blueprint for the Future Battlefield

The year is 2030. A battalion commander crawls silently through the brush with his forward reconnaissance team. The group halts at a muddy precipice, looking out at the jungle canopy below and a sea of jagged mountains fading into the clouds. The commander pulls out his tablet and takes a quick glance at the joint coalition common operational picture and the adversary's collection capabilities focused on his position. He has small teams positioned throughout the craggy terrain and lethal long-range precision fires and air defense in the rear.

After a minute, he clicks off his tablet. He can't report back to brigade just yet; he needs to minimize his unit's electromagnetic signature until conditions are right.

As he pockets his device and heads back down the mountainside to his vehicle, the commander reflects on the situation. He has felt the terrain and seen the likely avenues of approach; he's got about an hour to maneuver his forces without enemy space-based collection capabilities overhead. So, he heads back to one of the battalion's tactical operations centers in a nearby village--a shop that, from above, looks like just another local building. He connects to a secure wireless network, blending into the normal digital noise of the village, and gathers his team to issue orders.

'Sapere aude'