ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine three broad dimensions of military innovation. First, we look at how doctrine ‘performed’ in the field and the amount of adaptation that took place in Italy’s main post-2001 military operations. From growing multinational interoperability and digitalization to counter-IED strategies, analysis of Italian operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Libya allows assessment to be made of the degree of coherence between the key elements of national doctrine and the evolution of deployment. Second, we observe how operational experience related to institutional learning, and how the Italian armed forces changed in response to field experience. The focus will be on the set-up of a process to institutionalize lesson-learning. Third, we assess the extent to which the interplay between operational experience and resources affected force transformation with specific regard to military assets. The fourth section summarizes some of the key features of learning and change in the UK and France.
