Tag: defence services

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WAR & WARFARE (PART 2): TYPES OF WAR

In this part of the series we have a look at the types of war. War has been classified into various types over the years depending upon factors like extent, duration, cause, means and domains etc.

TYPES OF WAR

 

Total War. In the mid-19th century, scholars identified total war as a separate class of warfare. The term has been defined as “A war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, or the objectives pursued, especially one in which the laws of war could be disregarded.” Total war is a war, which a country devotes its entire human, economic and military resources. Targets are not restricted to the army. Civilians also get attacked for the purpose “total” victory over the enemy’s political, social and military structure.

Limited War. Limited war is the opposite concept to total war. A limited war is one in which the belligerents do not expend all of the resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise in a specific conflict.  The War is limited by geographical area, type of target, weapons or degree of mobilization.

World War. This is “a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world”. The term is usually reserved to two major international conflicts that occurred during the 20th century: World War I (1914–18) and World War II (1939–45). However, a variety of global conflicts have been subjectively deemed “world wars”, such as the Cold War and the War on Terror.

Civil War. Civil war is war within one’s own geographic boundaries, usually between people of different ethnic or religious groups or with different ideology. Its total chaos with multiple groups randomly fighting against each other, sometimes not really sure who is a friend or foe, but still creating a lot of blood bath. The ultimate goal is often lost in the carnage, with no definite winners. (Most often the only loser is humanity).

Religious War or Holy War.  A war between religions or over religious issues (primarily caused or justified by differences in religion). It is also called jihad or crusade. In the modern period, debates are common over the extent to which religious, economic, or ethnic aspects of a conflict predominate in a given war

Cold War. Cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates. This term is most commonly used to refer to the Soviet–American Cold War of 1947–1991. The surrogates are typically states that are satellites of the conflicting nations, i.e., nations allied to them or under their political influence. Opponents in a cold war often provide economic or military aid, such as weapons, tactical support or military advisors, to lesser nations involved in conflicts with the opposing country.

Colonial War. Colonial war is a blanket term relating to the various conflicts that arose as the result of overseas territories being settled by foreign powers creating a colony. The term especially refers to wars fought during the nineteenth century between European armies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

Ideological War. A clash of opposing ideals, ideologies, or concepts through which nations or groups use strategic influence to promote their interests abroad.

Revolutionary War. A war fought with the aim of overthrowing a corrupt or ineffective government.

 

Military classifications

Military conflict. When armies of two groups fight with weapons to gain supremacy on its opponent. It may be to grab territory, extend borders, extend influence, or to become more powerful. It’s as old as humanity and the list is endless.

Insurgency. Insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority. An insurgency can be fought via counter-insurgency warfare, and may also be opposed by measures to protect the population and by political and economic actions of various kinds, as well as propaganda aimed at undermining the insurgents’ claims against the incumbent regime. As a concept, insurgency’s nature is ambiguous. Not all rebellions are insurgencies.

Proxy War.  Proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors which act on the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a proxy war, there must be a direct, long-term relationship between external actors and the belligerents involved. The aforementioned relationship usually takes the form of funding, military training, arms, or other forms of material assistance which assist a belligerent party in sustaining its war effort.

Guerrilla War.  Guerrilla war is usually a hit-and-run war waged by an apparently weaker army, against a relatively much larger but less mobile highly organised army. Usually undertaken by a militia group of the defeated or near defeated people who are desperate to drive the invaders away. For them, its total war, whereas for the standing army it’s only a partial war, who are less motivated, and actually, pretty wary.

Militancy. Militancy is a war of terrorists with a desire to inflict damage to those they hate the most, but can’t directly win with a full-scale armed military conflict. They create maximum nuisance at minimum cost and kill as many innocents as they can and claim victory.

 

Domains Wise Classification

Besides the domains of land (ground war), Air (air war) and sea (naval war), other domains are as follows:

Economic war.  You don’t fire bullets and mortars, but use economic strength to throttle the other nation to submission. This is a sophisticated modern day invasion strategy. Strategy of sanctions, unfair trade practices  and debt traps are used in this type of warfare.

Diplomatic Wars.  It is the typical war that goes on between hostile nations at an apparently civilised international platform, like the UN. It’s all about gaining a few brawny points in a war of words in front of an international audience, most of whom are generally biased. 

Nuclear Warfare. This is a  war fought with nuclear weapons. It is too risky and mutual destruction is assured. So far it is restricted to threats and as a deterrent.

Cyber war. Cyber warfare involves the actions by a nation-state or international organization to attack and attempt to damage another nation’s computers or information networks through, computer viruses or denial-of-service attacks. Computer technology is used to disrupt the activities of a state or organization, especially the deliberate attacking of information systems for strategic or military purposes and cyber espionage.

Space war.  Space warfare is combat that takes place in outer space. The scope of space warfare therefore includes ground-to-space warfare, such as attacking satellites from the earth; space-to-space warfare, such as satellites attacking satellites; and space-to-ground warfare, such as satellites attacking earth-based targets.

Psychological warfare.  Literally, a war of words and nerves. You try to wrestle your opponent by wearing him down through constant threats of violence.

 

The nature of war is changing very rapidly. New classifications are being made to describe the prevailing situations. More about these changes and classifications later.

 

Coming up next: Warfare definition and types

Value additions are most welcome

References:

  1. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12857871.pdf
  2. https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/what-is-war-a-new-point-of-view
  3. Brian Orend, “War”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), ed. Edward N. Zalta, accessed September 18, 2012.
  4. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/war/.
  5. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 75
  6. Joseph S. Nye, The Future of Power, (New York, NY: Public Affairs), 113.
  7. Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21stCentury, 2005 (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
  8. Michael Howard, The Causes of War from the Causes of War and Other Essays, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983), 16.
  9. United States Government, The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, January 2011, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office), 417-420.
  10. Jack Sine, Defining the ‘Precision weapon’ in effects-based terms, Air & Space Power Journal, Spring 2006, accessed March 3, 2011, http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Air-Space-Power-Journal/154817984.html.
  11. General Norton A. Schwartz and Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, “Air-Sea Battle: Promoting Stability in an Era of Uncertainty”, The American Interest, February 12, 2012, accessed September 12, 2012.
  12. http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1212.
  13. Robert C. Nation, U.S. Army War College Seminar Lecture, September 6, 2012.
  14. Gene Sharp, The Role of Power in Nonviolent Struggle, (Boston, MA: The Albert Einstein Institution, 1990), 9.Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Samuel B. Griffith (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963).
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Q & A SERIES (Part1)

In various interactions questions are asked during the Q & A session. Starting a new series on compiling these valid and interesting questions with comments.

RECENT QUERRIES AND MY TAKE ON THEM

 

Question 1. What is the status on MMRCA 2.0?

 

Comments. MMRCA 2.0 – It refers to proposal for acquisition of 114 fighter ac by IAF. Open sources indicate that it is still at RFI state. Next step would be issue of RFP after government approval. My personal take is that instead of going through the entire procurement procedure again, we should go in for two more squadrons of  Rafale aircraft immediately. The induction would be faster and it is already in the inventory. We need to have a balance between the quantity  and the quality. It will meet the requirements till indeginous 5th gen AMCA comes up. Also phased induction is always better.

 

Question 2. Why do we still have to buy almost all of the weapons from foreign countries?

 

Comments. We are trying Leap frog method. Wherein, we procure weapons and equipment to meet immediate needs and maintain minimum level of deterrence capability while trying to make our own indigenous ones to match with the existing technology worldwide. Unfortunately the indigenous development is adversely affected by cost and time over runs besides the issue of matching quality. Hope the recent initiatives by the government to boost Atma Nirbharta succeeds and provides necessary impetus to the whole process. It is already showing some results. Latest SIPRI report indicates drop in defence import.

 

Question 3. What should be the priority for capability building between Army, Navy, Air Force, or enhancing cyber / space capabilities?

 

Comments. Each domain of warfare and each service is important. It is not a simple linear process of capability building. A balanced approach is required. War is going to be multi domain therefore, the capability building has to be uniform and the threats need to be tackled with whole of government approach. This is easier said then done. However, with CDS coming in the issue of inter-service priority would get addressed. Whereas, priority for capability development of defence forces vis-a-vis Cyber and Space domain would have to be decide following whole of government approach.

 

Question 4. Does India need Strategic bomber like the ones possessed by USA, China and Russia.

 

Comments. Strategic bomber is a good asset for power projection especially for countries with expeditionary ambitions. It is a costly asset and for India it would be low on the priority list. There is a need to boost many other capabilities on priority. Even in IAF higher priority list includes fighter ac, combat support ac (AWACS and Refuellers), drones and UAVs, smart weapons, protective infrastructure etc.

 

Question 5. Is the era of manned fighter jet over?

 

“No Machine can replicate the human gift of discovery and situational awareness”

– Air Mshl V Patney

Comments. This debate has been going on for long and recently picked up due to proliferation of drones and unmanned platforms. Both manned and unmanned platforms have advantages and disadvantages. At the moment thought process is to harness the advantages of both with the concept of manned platform leading a swarm of unmanned platforms in formation. 6th generation aerial platforms are heading this way. Various projects are under consideration and development for this loyal wingman concept. I call it Mother Goose Concept.

Questions / Queries and valuable additions are most welcome.

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WAR AND WARFARE (Part1): Defining War

Starting a new series on War and Warfare, beginning with definition of war.

Defining War

Dictionary Definitions. Definitions of war in different dictionaries are as follows:

    • A state of armed conflict between different countries or different groups within a country.
    • A state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations.
    • A conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation.
    • A state or period of armed hostility or active military operations.
    • A contest carried on by force of arms, as in a series of battles or campaigns.
    • War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, aggression, destruction, and mortality, using regular or irregular military forces.

These definitions are understandable and accurate definitions in the general context however, they are too simplistic to convey the complexity and many facets of war. The war needs to be conceptualized and defined in a broader perspective. War has been defined over the years by the strategists. Each has added a new facet (highlighted in italics in the text) to the definition. Some of the definitions are as follows:

Von Clausewitz (1911) defined war as “an act of violence intended to compel our opponents to fulfil our will”, and “War is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means.”

Sorel (1912) defined war as a “political act by means of which States, unable to adjust a dispute regarding their obligations, rights or interests, resort to armed force to decide which is the stronger and may therefore impose its will on the other”.

Russell’s (1916) definition of war as “conflict between two groups, each of which attempts to kill and maim as many as possible of the other group in order to achieve some object which it desires” is even more general and uncritically inclusive. Russell states the object for which men fight as “generally power or wealth”.

Johnson (1935) defines war as “armed conflict between population groups conceived of as organic unities, such as races or tribes, states or lesser geographic units, religious or political parties, economic classes”.

Kallen (1939) gave a political definition of war: “If war may be defined as an armed contest between two or more sovereign institutions employing organized military forces in the pursuit of specific ends”. The significant term in the definition is `organized’. He further adds that this organization of the contending armed forces extends back behind the battle lines and tends in modern wars to embrace all civilian activities, such as the industrial, productive, and commercial, and also the social interests and individual attitudes.

Bernard (1944) stated as follows: “War is organized continuous conflict of a transient character between or among collectivities of any sort capable of arming and organizing themselves for violent struggle carried on by armies in the field (or naval units on water) and supported by civil or incompletely militarized populations back of the battle areas constituted for the pursuit of some fairly well-defined public or quasipublic objective.” This objective is of course not always defined to the satisfaction of all concerned and it is liable to change according to circumstances during the continuance of the struggle.

Wallace (1968) considers war to be “the sanctioned use of lethal weapons by members of one society against members of another. It is carried out by trained persons working in teams that are directed by a separate policy-making group and supported in various ways by the non-combatant population”.

Ashworth (1968): “Mass or total war may be defined as a type of armed conflict between large nation-States in which populations and resources are rationally and extensively organized for conquest. It is important to note that populations are mobilized both in terms of activities and psychological states: the former implies comprehensive military and civilian conscription; the latter implies the systematic development of belligerent and hostile attitudes towards the enemy among all or most of the population.”

Deutsch and Senghaas (1971): “By ‘war’ we mean actual large-scale organized violence, prepared and maintained by the compulsion and legitimacy claims of a State and its government, and directed against another State or quasi-State, i.e. a relatively comparable political organization”.

Barringer (1972) considers war to be “one possible mode of policy activity aimed at effectively and favourably resolving an ongoing conflict of interests. In this sense war is but one of numerous conflict procedures, others being negotiation, conciliation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication. It is merely a particular subset of the larger set of all conflict modes.

All the definitions read together cover most of the facets of war. However, in the modern times the very nature of warfare are changing rapidly. More about these changes later.

Coming up next : Types of War

References:

  1. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/12857871.pdf
  2. 2.https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/what-is-war-a-new-point-of-view
  3. Brian Orend, “War”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition), ed. Edward N. Zalta, accessed September 18, 2012.
  4. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/war/.
  5. Carl von Clausewitz, On War, ed. and trans. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 75
  6. Joseph S. Nye, The Future of Power, (New York, NY: Public Affairs), 113.
  7. Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, 2005 (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
  8. Michael Howard, The Causes of War from the Causes of War and Other Essays, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983), 16.
  9. United States Government, The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, January 2011, (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office), 417-420.
  10. Jack Sine, Defining the ‘Precision weapon’ in effects-based terms, Air & Space Power Journal, Spring 2006, accessed March 3, 2011, http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Air-Space-Power-Journal/154817984.html.
  11. General Norton A. Schwartz and Admiral Jonathan W. Greenert, “Air-Sea Battle: Promoting Stability in an Era of Uncertainty”, The American Interest, February 12, 2012, accessed September 12, 2012.
  12. http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1212.
  13. Dr. Robert C. Nation, U.S. Army War College Seminar Lecture, September 6, 2012.
  14. Gene Sharp, The Role of Power in Nonviolent Struggle, (Boston, MA: The Albert Einstein Institution, 1990), 9.Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Samuel B. Griffith (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963).