In an asymmetrical war like Afghanistan how important is field artillery?
Are the type of wars the U.S. will be fighting moving away from the big guns? If not, what is the most valuable weapon in the arsenal and why?
In the wars like we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, artillery is largely relegated to a purely defensive role such as for base security in a FOB or the Green Zone.
By far the most valuable weapon is the individual troop as this is not a war like WW II where heavy tanks won the day. We need troops on the ground to root out the bad guys one at a time.
With that said, the most valuable single weapon aside from the troops are helicopters. They enable us to fight anywhere, anytime and bring the fight to the enemy. Wuthout helicopters, Special Operations, MEDEVAC, convoy security, etc, would just not be possible. It is almost countless the number of times helicopters have saved the day… when a base was about to be overrun and air support came in to wipe out the bad guys.
For example, remember a few months back when those 9 or so soldiers died in that massive atatck on their remote post? Something like 200 Taliban fighters attacked the post and almost over ran the small force. It was only because of helicopters arriving in time which kept the entire unit from being wiped out.
In all reality, there isn’t a lot that seperates us from the enemy. The only thing that we really have to our advantage, aside from training, is air superiority. Without air cover, we would have lost thousands of more troops than we have so far.
The most valuable weapon in asymmetrical warfare is an individual soldier who is aware of his cultural context, his role, and his surroundings. There’s no better tool on earth for fighting a counterinsurgency than intelligent, careful soldiers.
ETA: A little elaboration. Individual soldiers are more useful here because they have the capacity to convince the host population that they’re around to protect them and not hurt them. You can’t really do that from a Humvee or a tank or a Bradley; earning street cred that will help the host population turn against your enemies is one of the most vital tools in asymmetrical warfare, and only soldiers interacting with the host population in an intelligent way can do that.
Artillery still has it’s uses. When you can identify concentrations of enemy buildings like a remote camp, it’s still very useful. But, even then it’s beginning to take a side-seat to UAV technology, which can serve surveillance purposes and still deliver firepower when necessary.
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In the wars like we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, artillery is largely relegated to a purely defensive role such as for base security in a FOB or the Green Zone.
By far the most valuable weapon is the individual troop as this is not a war like WW II where heavy tanks won the day. We need troops on the ground to root out the bad guys one at a time.
With that said, the most valuable single weapon aside from the troops are helicopters. They enable us to fight anywhere, anytime and bring the fight to the enemy. Wuthout helicopters, Special Operations, MEDEVAC, convoy security, etc, would just not be possible. It is almost countless the number of times helicopters have saved the day… when a base was about to be overrun and air support came in to wipe out the bad guys.
For example, remember a few months back when those 9 or so soldiers died in that massive atatck on their remote post? Something like 200 Taliban fighters attacked the post and almost over ran the small force. It was only because of helicopters arriving in time which kept the entire unit from being wiped out.
In all reality, there isn’t a lot that seperates us from the enemy. The only thing that we really have to our advantage, aside from training, is air superiority. Without air cover, we would have lost thousands of more troops than we have so far.
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Extremely
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