The U.S. Army continues to transition from a force excelling in counter-insurgency to one that will win the deadlier conventional wars of the near future against China and Russia, said the U.S. Army's top general.

Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, said the army is being redesigned with new equipment and new doctrines to combat modern militaries such as those in Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

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This, because Gen. Milley foresees a future battlefield that "is going to be intensely lethal, the likes of which the United States Army, the United States military, has not experienced ... since World War II."

He also noted the world's militaries are on the verge of a fundamental change in the character of ground warfare.  This "revolution" is perhaps five to 10 years away and will involve infantry, armor and mechanized divisions with the firepower of 20th century armies but that will operate more independently.

Army divisions in 2030 will require the ability to fight in multiple domains to win. Gen. Milley pointed out that some foes will match or exceed the United States in cyber capabilities and the ability to deny air supremacy.

Army divisions in 2030 must, therefore, have the ability to fight in the cyber domain. It must also be capable of defending itself against the air, missile and unmanned aerial system threats.

And to win, the army's future divisions must provide their commanders with land-based maneuver and fires forces that can deliver fires on time and on target. He said the army must combine capabilities across domains to prevent its enemies from successfully employing his tactics and technologies.

Gen. Milley cautions future conventional war won't be World War II reprised with higher tech. Instead, long-range precision weapons will blast big, obvious targets like command headquarters.

The prevalence of smart weapons will force both sides to organizer smaller combat units moving independently with no semblance of a front line.

Electronic warfare, jamming, hacking and cyber warfare will disrupt communications among these scattered units, forcing junior commanders to take the initiative as never before.

As a consequence of the more frenetic future battlefield, the army has to radically overhaul its equipment, training and culture to prevail against near-peer foes like Russia and China.

TagsU.S. Army, conventional war, Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, china, Russia, 2030