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After several years of tight budgets, key European defense market sectors are poised for growth with satellite communications systems, major network infrastructure projects and battle management equipment on the shopping list. But analysts predict that market segments such as handheld tactical radios will either remain at current levels or shrink due to decreased sales.

A recently completed international military experiment has developed strategies and doctrines for stability and peacekeeping operations that now are being applied in Afghanistan and Iraq. The event focused on using all available capabilities to achieve mission goals, ranging from direct combat to reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

"Bringing home the bacon" is an old saying that in one of its interpretations means providing for the necessities of life. A new U.S. Air Force variation might be "bringing home the BACN"-or the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, a force multiplier that will help offset force reductions and bring new, affordable communications capabilities of which the warfighter could only until recently dream.

The U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review and the fiscal year 2007 defense budget submission were noteworthy for their focus on special operations forces. Both documents called for increased emphasis on small, highly trained, mobile units in the ongoing global war on terrorism. Our success in ridding Afghanistan of its Taliban rulers showed how effective coalition special forces can be in the shadowy war against terrorists.

The global war on terrorism and new technological capabilities have changed the way special operations forces fight and how they are employed in the battlefield. Nontraditional missions require nontraditional skills, and the U.S. Special Operations Command is training a new type of warrior to use skill sets vital in the war on terrorism.

A service with a long history of creative solutions to military challenges is joining forces with the unconventional warfare community. The U.S. Marine Corps has established a special operations command that will work as part of a joint special forces group.

The U.S. military's elite units have another platform from which they can launch maneuvers. Devised from submarines the U.S. Navy had planned to decommission, the new vehicles will be multimission, multiservice platforms designed specifically for covert operations and special operations warfare.

A demonstration technology program underway is developing U.S. military weapons that can travel at greater supersonic speeds. The Revolutionary Approach to Time-critical Long Range Strike, or RATTLRS, system will expand high-speed flight capabilities and improve performance for expendable supersonic vehicles.

Although transformational, today's network-centric warfare concepts may be infinitesimal compared to how technology-fueled cooperation can and will revolutionize future operations. Military leaders already have seen an inkling of the ramifications of capabilities such as instant messaging, short message service and blogging. And experts believe that these technologies not only could but should change the fundamental structure of both corporate and military organizations.

Collaborative technologies are leading the revolution in military affairs as they help commanders and warfighters realize long-sought capabilities in the network-centric force. These technologies' effects range from a more fluid network in theater to a new set of missions for special operations forces.