An Exploration of Equipping a Future Force Warrior Small Combat Unit with Non-Lethal Weapons
Abstract
The U.S. military has an increasing requirement to prepare for and conduct urban operations (UO). This UO requirement spreads across the spectrum of conflict, from high intensity combat to peacekeeping and humanitarian missions, often simultaneously. Regardless of which portion(s) of the warfare spectrum U.S. forces are involved in, urban engagements are inevitable and present significant challenges. Superior standoff weapons ranges and combined arms tactics are quickly negated in the confined terrain of the urban environment. Often considerably more challenging is differentiating the enemy from noncombatants. Conventional forces normally have two options: (1) the threat of a violent response (passive), or (2) the use of deadly force (active). These two extremes have virtually no middle ground. The reluctance of military and/or peacekeeping forces to employ deadly force on unconfirmed enemy targets can create a vulnerability. This vulnerability may be mitigated by equipping a small combat unit (SCU) with a viable alternative to deadly force -- nonlethal weapons (NLWs). Using an imperfect friend or foe identification modeling framework within an agent-based simulation (ABS), an NLW is used to interrogate (determine the intent of the person to identify friend or foe) rather than attempt to incapacitate a target. To determine the impacts of employing NLWs in an urban combat environment (with civilians on the battlefield), three factors were varied across 15 design points: the ability of U.S. military forces to positively identify a target, the range of the selected NLW, and the number of NLWs in an SCU. By replicating each design point and analyzing the resulting output data, the following insights were discovered: the use of NLWs does not degrade U.S. survivability; NLWs are essential to neutralizing suicide attacks; and NLWs decrease civilian casualties.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA457706
Entities
People
- Larry N. Wittwer
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School