An Assessment of the Science and Technology Predictions in the Army's STAR21 Report

This paper reviews the technology forecast assessments of the Strategic Technologies for the Army of the Twenty-First Century (STAR21) study conducted for the Army by the National Research Council in the early 1990s. The review in this paper was requested by the Army Chief Scientist, Dr. Tom Killion. The goal for STAR21 was "to assist the Army in improving its ability to incorporate advanced technologies into its weapons, equipment, and doctrine."1 The objectives were to: identify the advanced technologies most likely to be important to ground warfare in the next century, suggest strategies for developing the full potential of these technologies, and project implications for force structure and strategy for the technology changes."