What is MILDEC and its primary objective?

• A. Public Information.
• B. Defensive cyber operations only.
• C. Targeting civilian infrastructure.
• D. Military Deception; to mislead adversaries about capabilities and intentions to influence decisions to favor friendly objectives.

Answer: (D)

MILDEC, or Military Deception, is a set of planned actions designed to mislead adversaries about aspects of the opposing force—its capabilities, vulnerabilities, or intentions—in order to shape how they think and, as a result, how they decide and act. The primary objective is to influence the adversary’s decisions in a direction that favors friendly objectives, often by causing them to overestimate or underestimate threats, misprioritize resources, or react in ways that undermine their own plans. This distinguishes MILDEC from efforts that simply share information publicly or focus on defending networks; MILDEC aims to manipulate what the adversary believes and chooses to do. In practice, it can involve feints, decoys, spoofed signals, or other tactics that make the enemy act as if a different threat or schedule is real, thereby creating tactical or strategic advantage for friendly forces.