Modern warfare
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Modern warfare is a complex affair, involving the widespread use of highly adavanced technology. As a term, it is normally taken as referring to conflicts involving one or more first world powers, within the modern electronic era. However, this is not to say that third world countries do not also engage in war, although they are more prone to the use of low-tech weaponry and guerilla tactics. This complex subject can be broken down and divided into a variety of categories and subcategories:
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Organization
Nature of war
Total war
World War One was the first mass global war of the industrialised age, a demonstration of the incredible power of modern states. Stephen Badsey tells the story of the birth of 'total war'.
Guerilla warfare and terrorism
fighting by groups of irregular troops (guerrillas) within areas occupied by the enemy. When guerrillas obey the laws of conventional warfare they are entitled, if captured, to be treated as ordinary prisoners of war; however, they are 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.
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, the use of nuclear weapons, was first used in 1945 in a strategic bombing role. It has encompassed the use of nuclear weapons in both strategic roles, such as attacking cities, and battlefield roles, as extremely powerful conventional weapons.
Tactics
Naval warfare
Naval warfare takes place at sea. Usually, only large, powerful nations have competent 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.
Aerial warfare
Air war is one of the most efficient ways to destroy enemy combatants with minimal risk. Modern combat aircraft are very advanced technology, usually making use of onboard computers, including electronic targeting devices. Military aircraft are usually built to perform a specific role, such as bombing raids, air-to-air combat against other aircraft, or submarine hunting at sea. There is practically a different type of plane for every role. Some aircraft are capable of multiple roles, such as the F/A-18 Hornet, which is a fighter-bomber. This means the Hornet is capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. Another important aspect of aerial warfare is the helicopter. Helicopters have the important ability to take off and hover. This makes them nearly indespensible for close air support. Some helicopters also have special roles, such as submarine hunting, or rescue missions. There are some aircraft, such as the Harrier, which have the special ability to perform Vertical Take-Off and Landing, or VTOL.
Ground warfare
In modern terms, cavalry refers to armoured ground vehicles such as tanks and Armoured Personnel Carriers, and can also be used in the term Airborne Cavalry to describe helicopters working closely with ground units. Infantry remain an important part of modern warfare, as they are the only way to take and hold territory. Tanks are extremely vulnerable vehicles, and can easily be destroyed by well placed infantry, which facilitates the use of attached infantry units. In addition, infantry fighting vehicles are used to transport these units across terrain with heavier armor, following reconnaisance groups (In the standard armored unit model). In the United States Army, M2 and M3 Bradleys are commonly attached to M1 platoons, and make use of their long range TOW capability to engage and identify targets at long distances.
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.
Weaponry and equipment
Guerilla weapons are quite simple. Forest guerillas are usually armed with a simple rifle and basic survival equipment. Guerillas in countries such as Iraq are armed with the traditional AK-47 and RPGs. Guerillas do not usually use vehicles for transportation. It is more common that it's used for bombing targets. The guerilla doctrines' main disadvantage is the inability to access more advanced equipment due to economic issues. Therefore the guerillas must rely more on tactics than firepower. Most large militaries are equipped with weapons from their own countries. However, there are also a lot of imports, especially from Germany's Heckler und Koch corporation. The United States primarily makes use of Colt's M-16 assault rifle, most commonly in its A2 configuration. The sidearm is the Italian-made Beretta M9. The United States squad assault weapon, or SAW, is the Belgian-made M249. France's infantry troops mostly use the FAMAS, which has rifleman and support configurations. It is manufactured by the St-Etienne Arms Factory, which is a member of the government organization GIAT. The German armed forces use the G36, produced by Heckler und Koch. The British army uses the SA80 weapons system in its engagements. Russian troops use the AN-94, an evolution of the classic AK. The Chinese still use the AK-47. Another common weapon for an infantry unit to posess is an anti-tank weapon. This is a sort of man-portable rocket launcher, useful for stopping tanks. The US mainly uses the M72 LAW for this purpose. The Russians use the RPG-27, which is almost an exact copy of the LAW.
Modern wars
Main article: List of recent wars
(incomplete list)
- Falklands War, 1982
- Gulf War, 1990-1991
- Kosovo War, 1998-1999
- Afghanistan War, 2001
- Iraq War, 2003
