The U.S. Air Force intends to ensure that American troops are not caught unawares by electronic threats. The service is creating a virtual environment that will identify and assess disruptive and other major change technologies that could affect the future battlefield. The experiments will keep the United States on the cutting edge of emerging capabilities and help guarantee battlefield dominance.

The fight against improvised explosive devices has shifted focus. In the early days of the Iraq War allied forces sought primarily to protect themselves from the blasts. Today, however, the counter-device effort now ranges from preventing detonation to breaking up terrorist networks that are responsible for the deployment and use of explosive weapons.