Military
[in work]
Simplified and may not reflect the situation on a real battlefield.
Updates:
8.11.: Some clarifications and notes for example highlighting advantages of defenders in warfare (Principles of Offense and Defense).
Offense and Defense
Principles of Offense and Defense
Offense:
- For offense at some point one needs to move towards the opponent and usually in the opponent territory. This requires 1) movement, 2) movement in enemy territory and 3) usually at some point also actions (movement, shooting, demine, …) while exposed to opponent/enemy attacks.
- The forces on the offense decide where and when to attack and thus when and the location along the border/front-line where battles take place.
- To find a good attack spot and time, reconnaissance is crucial.
Defense:
- In defense, prepared/preinstalled structures can be used for protection, supervision, supply, communication, camouflage and damage. Being able to use fixed installed structures offers advantages: For example prebuilt shelters can offer protection not achievable by mobile armor, similarly preinstalled supervision tools and prebuilt supply lines (e.g. tunnels) provide capabilities not available for forces moving forward.
- The defender positions determine at which ‘depth’ along the border/front-line battles take place and thereby can take advantage of the local terrain.
- Continuous surveillance enables to prepare for and react early to possible attacks and so reduce the ‘surprise-effect’ advantage of the attacker.
Conclusion:
The advantages when in offense are to choose when and where along the border/frontline battles take place and possibly taking an opponent by surprise on the wrong foot . Surveillance enables a defender to prepare. If prepared, a defender can make use of prebuilt defensive structures which provide capabilities not available when in offense and therefore defending tends to be associated to much fewer losses both in personal and equipment than when in offense (losses also depend on equipment, tactics, technology, …).
Being prepared for different situations (scenarios) and adapt early on is important both for offense and defense. For example an ordered retreat is better than a chaotic retreat or being trapped to unfavorable positions (such as [near] encirclements, though the defender advantage can sometimes make up for unfavorable positions
It’s considered important:
- All decisions & actions to be taken in agreement with the big picture & long term plan and international law.
- To have a long term vision & plan, to communicate them and to have good both local and broad support.
- The long term plan respects other actors and respect cornerstones of international law such as International Humanitarian Law, the UN charter and key conventions by United Nations. // unfortunately human rights are nearly always violated in war, to protect civilians especially children is paramount.
Equipment by Defense and Offense
in work
Capabilities for Offense and Defense
Hallmarks of Offensive Equipment
- Capability for Movement including Movement in enemy territory, terrain independent movement and Movement while exposed to the Enemy. Solutions for Movement while Enemy Exposed.
- Capability to Take Out Defensive Structures. Well built defensive structures are difficult to take out (for example fortified concrete and/or below the ground).
- Reconnaissance. Do reconnaissance and/or carry out actions based on it.
Hallmarks of Defensive Equipment
- Capability to take out Moving or Shooting Targets: Recognize, hit & render unusable.
- Armor Piercing: As offensive units usually need to move, their armor has trade-off between moveability and protection.
- *Target Achilles Heels: Often for offensive equipment there are trade offs between protection and capabilities and therefore some not-so-strong spots remain which can be exploited by anti armor weapons.
- Counter Fire: Detect & hit units firing.
- Useable from Fortified Positions/fixed Installation. Ideally equipment and corresponding fortifications are designed with compatibility in mind, possibly integrating communication, control and surveillance tools.
- Surveillance. Surveil and/or respond to surveillance. // Surveillance in a defensive sense is limited in scope for example limited to larger equipment built ups, limited to border region: 1. to respect other actors (does not interfere/not provoke/ not harm) 2. for practical reasons (resource efficiency).
Classifying Equipment
The hallmarks above, can be used to coarsely classify equipment into offensive, defensive or mixed equipment.
The resulting classification just gives a tendency in usage but does not restrict it.
Offensive Capabilities in Defense:
- Offensive Equipment able to destroy fixed structures can be used for defense purposes for example to target supply lines. // Ukraine used HIMARS launched rockets and storm shadow rockets to target Russian supply and command centers to reduce both offensive and defensive capabilities of the Russian forces.
- Resilient and/or fast moving equipment can be useful or even best suited in defense for reinforcement especially when there is a breach. // Though for a prepared defense, equipment designed to be used for defense tends to be better suited such as more resource efficient and better integrable into defenses.
Defensive Capabilities in Offense:
- When carrying out longer lasting offensive operations or conquests, to hold positions, equipment with defensive capabilities (e.g. to target opponent vehicles) is needed.
- When the opponents defence relies on ‘offensive equipment’, defensive equipment can be useful as counter e.g. anti armor against armored units used in defence.
In conclusion, for offensive operations nearly always at least some equipment with offensive capabilities is required but a flexible offensive force includes equipment with defensive capabilities. For defense, defensive equipment is usually best suited, though for reinforcements protected and fast moving vehicles are useful.
Solutions for Opponent Exposure
- Mobility: Reduce the probability of being detected, targeted and/or hit (e.g. by short exposure and/or fast/irregular movement)
- Sustain Damage: Sustain a lot of damage (e.g. by heavy armor, stable construction)
- Disposable: Ignore destruction for example unmanned and disposable equipment such as rockets or attack drones/loitering munition.
- Long Range: Long range which avoids/reduces the movement necessary/target closeness for the launchers, though the rockets still need to move to reach the target. For example artillery/rocket launchers themselves can be kept in at safe places and only the rockets/bullets have to move in open field.
- Cover providing Paths: Paths in terrain which provides cover or moving underground/water which reduces the probability for detection or hit.
- Camouflage: Classical camouflage for visible light or EM absorbing for radar stealth.
- Combined protections: While most mobile equipment (such as airplanes or self propelled artillery on fast vehicles) can be used for offense, a against a good defense usually some additional protection is added such as stealth or armor.
Equipment for Offense
- Heavily armored tanks and self propelled artillery. Such equipment can sustain a lot of damage but are not well suited for use from fortified positions.
- Airplane bombers.
- Offensively used rockets (usually fairly large numbers are required)
- Attack drones (possibly in swarms)
To know all possibilities of the opponent offense helps to have a suitable counter for each timely at hand - which is needed for/enables a effective and reliable defense.
Mixed Purpose Equipment
Artillery
- *Self propelled or easy moveable (=fixed mounting to a moveable vehicle). Use case: 1) Hit and run offense or defense (to avoid counter fire), 2) quick reinforcement for defense or overrun in offense i.e. bomb the opponent position . Well suited for terrain where its moveability is good (for many vehicles a good road network, respectively path network).
- Fixed Position: Use from fortified positions and thus strong for defense or offense in settings with rather static front-lines.
Infantry
- For offense: usually more heavily armored while maintaining the ability to move including the ability to move in settings with provide some stealth and/or cover. For example moving in wild terrain and/or at night, camouflage for different situations and terrains.
- For defense: Shields for protection and heavy guns to use protected positions (e.g. prebuilt fortifications). Scouting/surveillance tools to detect enemies such as classic binoculars or electronic sensors, photo drones or fixed installed camera traps and/or the visible.
Armored Personal Carriers
Transport infantry for preparation/reinforcement in defence respectively to advance in offense.
Multipurpose Airplanes
Features:
- Fast (compared to other types of equipment)
- Terrain Independent
- while in air nearly only vulnerable to air defenses
Equipment for Defense
[in work]
As noted defensive hallmarks are: Hitting moving targets (anti armor, target achilles heels), surveillance, useable from fortifications.
- Remote Equipment and preinstalled equipment for example for surveillance.
- Anti armor weapons: for example Javelins or NLAW used by the Ukrainian forces, lancet drones and Vikhr missiles used by the Russian forces.
Types of Equipment
Equipment by Manned and Unmanned
Unstaffed Equipment
Unmanned equipment can have different usages and be remote controlled and/or autonomous.
Usage: for surveillance, reconnaissance, engineer or damage
Control Type: remote controlled or autonomous
Reusable: Onetime, Reusable
Often damage equipment is remote controlled and not autonomous unless the target is predefined (e.g. the case for rockets) as one don’t want machines to decide about damage especially lethal damage (mines and cluster mines are notable exceptions of autonomous remote damage equipment which have been around for decades with often devastating effects, including for uninvolved people).
Often surveillance equipment has the ability for remote control as at least a one way data transmission has to be in place anyways and from a one way to two way transmission is mostly no [big] constraint.
Staffed Equipment
in work [classically most vehicles is staffed such as airplanes, tanks, artillery, air defenses]
Equipment by Purpose
in work
Surveillance Equipment and Reconnaissance
Detection Range
Electromagnetic Waves:
- Widen and/or increase the visibility by binoculars/zoom-objectives and night vision. Cameras for different wavelengths: for example visible and infrared.
- Radars
Physical Waves:
- In Air: microphones (for example drone detection)
- In the Ground: Seismograph
Usage Type of Surveillance and Reconnaissance Equipment
Most surveillance equipment can be used remotely either fixed or on unmanned vehicles (UAVs or UGVs).
For surveillance equipment fixed installation is often suitable, especially if the cost of the surveillance equipment is much smaller than that of a vehicle and/or the equipment can be used from [prepared] covered or fortified locations.
Engineer Equipment
- Build structures such as fortifications and covers.
- Cross or remove physical obstacles such as rivers or mines.
Damage
Destroy or damage some opponent equipment.
[in consideration]
Sheltering Structures
Obstacles
- electric obstacles (for example by electronic warfare devices)
- physical obstacles/barriers: walls, trenches, moats, …
Concealment Structures
Protective Structures
Protect civilians and military personal & equipment.
For example bunkers, castles.