// UNMANNED SYSTEMS AND NEXT-GEN WARFARE TERM
Influence Operations
Influence operations are coordinated actions taken to affect how a target audience thinks, feels, and acts. These operations use various forms of communication, including truthful information, propaganda, or disinformation, to shape perceptions and decision-making to achieve a specific goal.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
Influence Operations (IO) are a military and statecraft capability that integrates information-related capabilities (IRCs) like PSYOP, MILDEC, and cyber operations to affect the cognitive domain of target audiences. The objective is to manage perceptions, disrupt decision-making, and shape the behavior of adversaries, populations, and leaders to support national security objectives.
BACKGROUND
The military budget of the United States is the largest portion of the discretionary federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense (DoD), or more broadly, the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. It pays the salaries, training, and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel, maintains arms, equipment and facilities, funds operations, and develops and buys new items. The budget funds the six branches of the US military: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force. Critics contend that recent U.S. defense budgets have disproportionately invested in long-term developmental programs instead of producing weapons systems needed in the near term.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Information Operations
- IO
- Cognitive Warfare
- Psychological Operations
- PSYOP
- Perception Management
- Strategic Communications
USAGE NOTE
This term is used to describe non-kinetic actions aimed at shaping the cognitive domain of a target audience, often in the context of hybrid or gray-zone warfare.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Influence Operations.
A multinational defense, security, and aerospace company. Its Intelligence & Security sector develops technologies for data analysis, information processing, and situational awareness that support government and military information operations.
A software company specializing in big data analytics. Its Gotham platform is widely used by defense and intelligence agencies to integrate and analyze vast datasets, enabling the identification of networks, patterns, and narratives crucial for influence operations.
A global aerospace and defense technology company that provides solutions for C4ISR. They develop systems to manage the information environment, including tools for data analytics and electronic warfare that support information and influence campaigns.
A leading global security company working in aerospace, defense, and cyberspace. The company develops advanced systems for information warfare and full-spectrum cyber operations, designed to achieve information dominance.
An artificial intelligence company that builds machine learning platforms for government and commercial clients. Their technology uses natural language processing to automatically identify and analyze disinformation, propaganda, and emerging narratives from large volumes of text.
A management and technology consulting firm with deep ties to the US defense and intelligence communities. They provide data science, analytics, and engineering services to support information warfare and counter-influence missions.
A major defense contractor that develops advanced sensors, cyber, and software solutions. Their AI-driven data analytics and intelligence processing tools are used to understand the information environment and support military decision-making in influence operations.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is a research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Defense. DARPA funds and develops emerging technologies to counter and conduct influence operations, such as its Semantic Forensics (SemaFor) and SocialSim programs.