Everything about Modern Warfare totally explained
Modern warfare involves the widespread use of highly advanced technology. As a term, it's generally associated with technologically advanced weaponry and tactics. However, this isn't to say that
third world countries don't also engage in modern warfare, although they're more prone to the use of low-tech weaponry and guerrilla tactics.
With the advent of
nuclear weapons, the concept of full-scale war carries the prospect of
global annihilation, and as such conflicts since WWII have by definition been "low intensity" conflicts, typically in the form of
proxy wars fought within local regional confines, using what are now referred to as "
conventional weapons," typically combined with the use of
asymmetric warfare tactics and applied use of
intelligence.
Types of Modern Warfare
Aerial Warfare
Aerial warfare is the attempt to gain dominance of the skies. This dominance is important because it can be used to wear down the enemy tactically, strategically, physically and psychologically. This means that the enemy can be greatly weakened and demoralized from the relative safety of the skies.
While every side has
Anti-Aircraft Guns and
Surface-to-air missiles they're limited by their location on the ground. Computers and radar is used to target and destroy the enemy aircraft. However modern air forces fight back using a variety of
electronic countermeasures such as
chaff,
flares, decoys and
jamming. Also used are physically destructive weapons such as
HARM. The best way is ultimately to fight fire with fire, and jet fighters are the best defence.
There are three kinds of air control:
air parity,
air superiority and
air supremacy. Air parity is the lowest and it means that you only have control of the air above friendly troop positions. Air superiority is the second highest and it means that you're in a more favorable position than the opponent. Air supremacy is the highest and it means complete and total control of the skies. A historical example of air supremacy can been seen in WWII: in 1941, Britain had only air parity over England, while Germany had air superiority over most of Western Europe. By 1944, however, the allies would have air supremacy over Western Europe. During the Vietnam War, America had only air superiority over North Vietnam as the
NVA mounted an effective resistance despite heavy bombing. During the Gulf War and subsequent conflicts, America had air supremacy thanks to training and airplanes, both of which the enemy lacked. American tactical doctrine calls for air power to protect ground forces from airborne threats. This explains why America only uses 2 main types of SAM: the Stinger and the Patriot missile. By contrast, armies, such as that of Russia, have many types of long, medium, and short range SAM missiles.
Logistics aircraft are strategic and tactical transports, although they can only carry so much weight. In the first
Gulf War most of the Abrams tanks were sent by ship instead of plane. Equally important are tanker aircraft such as the
KC-135 which extend the range of combat aircraft. Special support planes like the
A-10 Warthog and
AC-130 Spectre Gunship provide close air support for troops.
Jet fighters have one big weakness. They can only land at airfields for fuel and ammo. These airfields are natural
chokepoints and can easily be targeted for destruction. Therefore they must be defended and
AEW and
AWAC aircraft play a vital role in this. However this means that a successful bombing campaign can wipe out an air force in the air, before it has a chance to defend itself. Countermeasures such as armored hangers and underground airfields are successful depending in what situation they're used in. Precision guided munitions can defeat these but would mainly be used by the technological western powers. Eastern powers would normally focus on quantity over quality and may try to carpet bomb.
This weakness leads to the development of V/STOL aircraft such as the British
Harrier. This allows them to rearm and refuel anywhere but at a cost of maneuverability and speed. This generally limits them to close air support missions. Since jets are very costly, most of them are multi-role like the F/A-18 which can dogfight, bomb, reconnoiter and provide close air support.
Electronic Warfare is used a lot in aerial warfare, mainly in
dogfighting. However bombers use EW as a penetration aid to suppress and/or destroy enemy air defences. This is usually undertaken by specialized
SEAD and
Wild Weasel aircraft. Such airplanes offer themselves as bait so that the enemy turns on its radars to target and destroy them. The airplane can then
jam that frequency or destroy the radar using anti-radiation missiles. The SAM site then can try shooting it down. Most of the time a silent duel is held between the EW officer on the plane and the enemy one on the ground as anti-radiation missiles are held until needed. As the enemy cycles through radio frequencies to counter jamming and chaff, friendlies jam those frequencies, and so on and so forth. For more info see
Radar jamming and deception
Helicopters are a very important asset and while have been around since WWII, their full potential hasn't been realized until the
Vietnam War. Their hovering ability eliminates the need for airfields. It also enables them to provide effective close air support. Modern armies use attack helicopters with maneuver units like tanks and
armored personnel carriers to provide extra firepower. They also give a commander huge tactical flexibility as they can race to any weak spot under attack and reinforce it. Transport helicopters transport troops and supplies, often behind enemy lines. This leads to a maneuver called
vertical envelopment. They can also be used for covert insertion of special forces and for reconnaissance. They play an important part in the asymmetrical and guerrilla style warfare in Vietnam. There the terrain helps the enemy but helicopters overcome this limitation. Since the war was asymmetrical helicopters roamed freely without aerial opposition. Without them resupply and movement have been all but impossible.
Asymmetric warfare
A military situation in which two belligerents of unequal strength interact and take advantage of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This interaction often involves strategies and tactics outside the bounds of conventional warfare, often referred to as terrorism.
Battlespace
Battlespace is a unified strategy to integrate and combine
armed forces for the
military theatre of operations, including
air,
information,
land,
sea and
space. It includes the environment, factors and conditions that must be understood to successfully apply combat power, protect the force, or complete the mission. This includes
enemy and friendly forces; facilities; weather; terrain; and the
electromagnetic spectrum within the operational areas and areas of interest.
Biological warfare
Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus or other disease-causing organism) or toxin found in nature, as a weapon of war. It is meant to incapacitate or kill an adversary. It may also be defined as the employment of biological agents to produce casualties in man or animals and damage to plants or material; or defense against such employment.
Network-centric warfare
Network-centric warfare is essentially a new
military doctrine made possible by the
Information Age.
Weapons platforms,
sensors and
command and control centers are being connected through high-speed communication networks. The doctrine is related to the
Revolution in Military Affairs debate.
The overall network which enables this strategy in the
United States military is called the
Global Information Grid.
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare is warfare (and associated military operations) using the toxic properties of chemical substances to kill, injure or incapacitate an enemy.
Electronic warfare
Electronic warfare refers to mainly non-violent practices used chiefly to support other areas of warfare. The term was originally coined to encompass the interception and
decoding of enemy
radio communications, and the communications technologies and
cryptography methods used to counter such interception, as well as
jamming, radio stealth and other related areas. Over the latter years of the
twentieth century and early years of the
twenty-first century this has expanded to cover a wide range of areas: the use of, detection of and avoidance of detection by
Radar and
Sonar systems,
computer hacking,
Space warfare etc.
Fourth generation warfare
Fourth generation warfare (4GW) is a concept defined by
William S. Lind and expanded by
Thomas X. Hammes, used to describe the
decentralized nature of modern warfare. The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the major participants isn't a state but rather a violent ideological network. Fourth Generation wars are characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and politics, soldier and civilian, peace and conflict, battlefield and safety. While this term is similar to terrorism and asymmetric warfare, it's much narrower. Classical insurgencies and the Indian Wars are examples of Pre-Modern War, not 4GW. Fourth generation warfare usually has the insurgency group or non-state side trying to implement their own government or reestablish an old government over the one currently running the territory. The blurring of lines between state and non-state is further complicated in a democracy by the power of the media.
Ground warfare
Ground warfare involves three distinct types of combat units,
Infantry,
Armor and
Artillery.
Infantry in modern times would entail
Mechanized infantry and
Airborne forces. Usually wielding a type of rifle or sub-machine gun, an infantryman is the basic unit of an army.
Armored warfare in modern times involves a variety of
Armored fighting vehicles for the purpose of battle and support. Tanks or other armored vehicles (such as armored personal carriers or tank destroyers) are slower, yet stronger hunks of metal. They are invulnerable to enemy machine gun fire but prone to rocket infantry, mines, and aircraft so are usually accompanied by infantry. In urban areas, because of smaller space, an armored vehicle is exposed to hidden enemy infantry but can extinguish a large area or building so is effective in its ways. In rural areas, an armored vehicle doesn't have to worry about hidden units though rough terrain and long-distances have always been a factor of weakness for Armored tanks and vehicles. They are also still prone to mines and artillery as well
Artillery in contemporary times, is distinguished by its large calibre, firing an
explosive shell or
rocket, and being of such a size and weight as to require a specialized mount for firing and transport. Weapons covered by this term include "tube" artillery such as the
howitzer,
cannon,
mortar, and
field gun and "rocket" artillery. The term "artillery" has traditionally not been used for projectiles with internal
guidance systems, even though some artillery units employ surface-to-surface
missiles. Recent advances in terminal guidance systems for small munitions has allowed large calibre shells to be fitted with precision guidance fuses, blurring this distinction.
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is defined as fighting by groups of
irregular troops (guerrillas) within areas occupied by the enemy. When guerrillas obey the laws of conventional warfare they're entitled, if captured, to be treated as ordinary prisoners of war; however, they're often executed by their captors. The tactics of guerrilla warfare stress deception and ambush, as opposed to mass confrontation, and succeed best in an irregular, rugged, terrain and with a sympathetic populace, whom guerrillas often seek to win over by propaganda, reform, and
terrorism. Guerrilla warfare has played a significant role in modern history, especially when waged by Communist liberation movements in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Guerrilla warfare was also the primary tactic of Americans in their revolutionary war.
Guerrilla fighters gravitate toward weapons which are easily accessible, low in technology and low in cost. A typical arsenal of the modern guerrilla would include the
AK-47,
RPGs and
Improvised explosive devices. The guerrilla doctrines' main disadvantage is the inability to access more advanced equipment due to economic, influence, and accessibility issues. They must rely on small unit tactics involving hit and run. This situation leads to low intensity warfare and asymmetrical warfare.
Information warfare
Information warfare is a kind of warfare where
information and attacks on information and its system are used as a tool of
warfare. Some examples of this type of warfare are electronic "sniffers" which disrupt international fund-transfer networks as well as the signals of
television and
radio stations. Jamming such signals can allow participants in the war to use the stations for a misinformation
campaign.
Naval warfare
Naval warfare takes place on the high seas (blue water navy). Usually, only large, powerful nations have competent blue water or deep water navies. Modern navies primarily use
aircraft carriers,
submarines,
frigates, and
destroyers for combat. This provides a versatile array of attacks, capable of hitting ground targets, air targets, or other seafaring vessels. Most modern navies also have a large air support contingent, deployed from
aircraft carriers. In
World War II, small craft (
motor torpedo boats variously called PT boats, MTBs, MGBs,
Schnellbooten, or MAS-boats) fought near shore. This developed in the
Vietnam War into riverine warfare (brown water navy), in intertidal and river areas. Irregular warfare makes this sort of combat more likely in the future.
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear war is a type of warfare which relies on nuclear weapons. There are actually two types of warfare in this category. In a limited nuclear war, a small number of weapons are used in a tactical exchange aimed primarily at opposing military forces. In a full-scale nuclear war, large numbers of weapons are used in an attack aimed at entire countries. This type of warfare would target both military bases and civilians.
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare is the planned use of
propaganda and other
psychological actions having the primary purpose of influencing the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of hostile foreign groups in such a way as to support the achievement of national objectives.
Propaganda
Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behavior of large numbers of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. The most effective propaganda is often completely truthful, but some propaganda presents facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience.
Space warfare
Space warfare is warfare that occurs outside the
Earth's atmosphere. The weapons would include
Orbital weaponry and
Space weapons. High value
outer space targets would include
satellites and
weapon platforms. Notably no real weapons exist in space yet.
Total war
Total war is a 20th century term to describe a war in which countries or nations use all of their resources to destroy another organized country's or nation's ability to engage in war. The practice of total war has been in use for centuries, but it was only in the middle to late nineteenth century that total war was recognized as a separate class of warfare.
The most identifiable consequence of total war in modern times has been the inclusion of
civilians and civilian infrastructure as targets in destroying a country's ability to engage in war. The targeting of civilians developed from two distinct
theories. The first theory was that if enough civilians were killed, factories couldn't function. The second theory was that if civilians were killed, the country would be so demoralized that it would have no ability to wage further war.
Modern wars
Lists
Major modern wars
1959 Vietnam War
1967 Six-Day War
1970 War of Attrition
1971 Indo-Pakistani War
1973 Yom Kippur War
1979 Soviet war in Afghanistan
1980 Iran-Iraq War
1982 Lebanon War
1982 Falklands War
1987 Palestinian Intifada
1988 Nagorno-Karabakh War
1988 Somali Civil War
1990 Gulf War
1991 Yugoslav Wars
1994 Rwandan Civil War
1994 First Chechen War
1996 First Congo War
1998 Kosovo War
1998 Second Congo War
1999 Second Chechen War
2000 Al-Aqsa Intifada
2001 War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
2003 Iraq War
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
Further Information
Get more info on 'Modern Warfare'.
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