Operational Fires on the Urban Battlefield: An Underdeveloped Concept
Abstract
Now and into the future the U.S. military will be confronted in asymmetric warfare with adversaries who establish their power centers in urban terrain. Recent history has shown that U.S. forces can defeat adversaries on the conventional battlefield through overwhelming tactical and operational fires. Specifically, the employment of operational fires in conventional warfare have enabled the operational commander to accomplish operational and strategic objectives. However, when battles shift to urban terrain, the complexity of employing decisive operational fires goes up exponentially. The urban environment's characteristics of structured terrain and noncombatant inhabitants restrict the ability to employ lethal operational fires in the traditional fashion. As a result, Joint Doctrine generally views urban warfare as a tactical fight that should be tasked to the tactical commander to achieve operational objectives. The future operational commander needs a fully developed concept to employ operational fires. This study will examine the challenges facing the operational commander in the urban battlespace. Furthermore, an analysis of the evolving Joint MOUT concept will identify the limited integration and considerations for operational fires. This study concludes with recommendations for integrating a full scale employment of operational fires into the conceptual framework of Joint MOUT.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 05, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA363059
Entities
People
- Michael E. Langley
Organizations
- Naval War College