U.S. Army TRADOC G-2 Mad Scientist Megacities and Dense Urban Areas Initiative: Data Collection and Analysis

This report provides an overview of technologies, capabilities, and challenges identified through the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) G-2 Mad Scientist (MS) initiative addressing megacity and dense urban area (DUA) challenges for 2025 and beyond.

MS is a TRADOC G-2 initiative organized around themes, problem sets, and challenges the Army expects to face in the future Operational Environment (OE) that allows for continuous learning, adaptation, innovation, and broader engagement in problem solving. Dialogue between Joint military, international partners, academia, policy institutions, and private sector organizations will help the Army explore the evolution of the OE in support of the Campaign of Learning, 2025 Maneuvers, science and technology (S&T) investments, and capability development for the Army. MS is exploring innovative ways to improve the effectiveness of the future force to ensure it can accomplish a diverse set of missions throughout the full range of military operations (ROMO), to include operating in megacities and DUAs.

By 2050, 60% of the world’s population is expected to reside in cities. Adversaries are increasingly moving to environments where U.S. advantages in detection, standoff, and precision firepower may be constrained. Further, the potential for Army involvement within cities may be exacerbated by global challenges including: liberal trade and economic coordination; climate change; nuclear proliferation; responsibility to protect, and failing states and ungoverned areas. The types of tasks that the Army may be required to perform in a megacity or in DUAs include: Non-combatant evacuation; humanitarian assistance disaster relief (HADR) missions; raids; deny adversary objectives; counter weapons of mass destruction operations; conduct military engagement and security cooperation; provide a global stabilizing presence; provide support to civil authorities, and counter terrorism/counterinsurgency missions. Megacity and DUA environments present a number of challenges that the Army must prepare for and address if it will be successful in future missions. However, military forces are unprepared for future combat in these environments.

To address this gap in U.S. military capabilities, TRADOC G-2, in collaboration with Arizona State University Research Enterprise (ASURE), Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC), and the Army’s Intelligence Center of Excellence (ICoE), focused on four primary objectives that align to Army Warfighting Challenges (AWFCs) as part of a MS Megacities Initiative with the objective that no U.S. Army soldier is at a disadvantage in an urban environment.