Marine Corps Wargame Teams Prioritized Quantum Technology in Simulated Battle Budgets

(WarOnTheRocks) The American teams in a recent Marine Corps War College wargame spent a huge amount of their investment capital in a failed bid for quantum dominance. The students were given a list of approximately 75 items they could invest in that would give them certain advantages during the game. Nearly everything was on the table, from buying an additional carrier or brigade combat team, to taking a shot at getting quantum computing technology to work. Each team was given $200 billion dollars to invest. Interestingly, no one wanted another carrier, while everyone invested heavily in artificial intelligence, attack submarines, and stealth squadrons. The U.S. team also invested in upgrading logistics infrastructure, which had a substantial positive impact on sustaining three global fights
The wargames were played by six student teams, or approximately five persons each. There were three red teams, representing Russia, China, and North Korea; combatting three blue teams representing Taiwan, Indo-Pacific Command (Korea conflict) and European Command.
Interestingly cyber advantages always proved fleeting. Moreover, any cyberattack launched on its own was close to useless. On the other hand, targeted cyber attacks combined with maneuver forces always proved to be a deadly combination.
This is an extensive article that describes several global conflict scenarios that were acted out in each of the theaters: Taiwan, South Korea, Europe (Poland & NATO). The author is Dr. James Lacey, the Professor of Strategic Studies at the Marine Corps War College. None of the outcomes were positive.