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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Fundamentals of warfare

I have posted these ideas before, but I feel that it is important to keep working on the fundamentals.

Features common in Guerrilla wars:

1) Conventional forces tend to outnumber irregular troops. I am speaking of armed troops, not necessarily popular support.

2) Conventional forces have better weapons.

3) Conventional forces have better training. (A large reason why atrocities tend to be committed by the irregular troop side.)

4) Conventional forces have better firepower.

It is in the interest of conventional force to have greater amounts of combat. The more combat, the better. This allows the conventional force to bring its greater firepower and numbers to bear. Typically, the difficulty is in bringing the irregular troops to battle.

Typical strategy of ‘insurgent’ side is to outlast the enemy. Get them to quit. Because they can’t stand up in a straight fight, ‘insurgents’ tend to attempt to gain local advantages and bite off small bits of the conventional army. (Small battles)

Modern warfare:

Mechanized or ‘High Tech’ warfare is best:

1) Over water. It requires warships to cover the surface, aircraft and missiles to cover the air above it, and submarines, torpedoes and mines to cover beneath the surface.

2) Desert. Since the invention of the internal combustion engine, deserts are the 2nd best ideal location for mechanized forces to fight. It requires mechanization to support any forces deployed, gives thermal imaging and other ‘high tech’ devices the most idea environment to be used in. It requires aircraft and missiles to cover the air above.

3) Open land. The steppes in Russia and the great plains of the U.S. are excellent examples. The only natural obstacles are rivers.

Mechanized forces are at the greatest disadvantage in:

1) Mountains. Aircraft are limited in ability to maneuver. Low-tech men and weapons are easy to hide, deploy and move. High tech weapons are far less effective; armor is far less mobile and effective. Line of sight is blocked by the uneven ground.

2) Swamps. Aircraft are marginally more effective than in the mountains. Many of the same reasons that mountains make mechanized forces less effective are also present in swamps.

3) Forests and cities. Freedom of maneuver is better than in 1 and 2, but still limited. Line of sight is difficult to establish, along with the certainty of hitting non-armed people in cities.

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