316 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies N. 6 / 2015 Similarly, in comparison with the Germans, the allied forces rarely displayed the organisational skills and flexibility to make full use of the resources at their disposal in World War II.11 4. THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING MILITARY CAPABILITIES A detailed observation of how military capabilities are obtained shows that this is a process with marked evolutionary characteristics. With the development of organisational structures, operations procedures (doctrine) equipment and systems, armies develop capabilities that make the difference with respect to their potential adversaries. This process takes place on the basis of variations of existing capabilities and the choice of alternatives that perform better in the field of operations. Those which are best suited tend to spread and expand, while those functioning poorly tend to be used less and finally disappear altogether. For example, defence based on medieval castles was rendered obsolete with the development of artillery and the use of planes to locate and attack the enemy fleet with bombs and torpedoes, even before their sighting, boosted the spread of aircraft carriers and ended up replacing battleships as the flagship of naval fleets. The air defence developed by the United Kingdom at the beginning of World War II is another example of military capability. It consisted of a command centre, radar equipment to monitor the airspace, a communications system, and air fighters equipped with radio to intercept and repel the Luftwaffe’s air attacks. The deployment of this capability required key technologies such as detection and early warning equipment via radio-electric signals, as well as ground-to-air and air-to-air communications systems in the UHF band.12 A third example was the development of amphibious operations during World War II in the Pacific enabling a rapid landing of troops onshore under opposition. This new form of operation required both the development of a doctrine for this kind of operations as well as the development of landing craft and amphibious tractors adapted from civilian designs.13 11 Millet, A. R., W. Murray, and K. H. Watman. “The Effectiveness of Military Organisations”. International Security, 1986: 37-71. 12 The initial detection equipment was based on sound, but their limited range meant that they were replaced by the use of radio-electric signals. 13 Martí, Carlos. Tecnología de la defensa. Un análisis de la situación española. Madrid: Instituto Universitario General Gutiérrez Mellado, 2006. p. 139. http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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