I have referred in this blog multiple times to the growing unease - among military and non-military people alike - about our current capability portfolio. I think the discussions about the term 'kinetic capabilities' are an interesting example of this debate. My own take in this debate for the past few years has been that we just need a better balance between 'kinetic' and 'non-kinetic' capabilities. Upon reflection, I will now start talking about 'old kinetic' (industrial) and 'new kinetic' (information-age) capabilities.
I don't recall exactly when I first heard the word 'kinetic' being used in the sense in which it has now become fairly widespread in the defense kommentariat. I think it must have been around 2005, but for some reason it really struck a chord with me. Google Insights suggests the term started being used more widely (as it appeared on its radar screen of search strings Google search users look for) in 2008.
[Incidentally, the spike in March 2011 occurred when US Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes called the Libyan operation a 'kinetic military action'.]
A search on CARL, the US Army's fantastic Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library, shows that the first paper to use the term dated back to the year
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