Rewriting the Rulebook on coups, time to add cyberpower Mere hours after the putsch in Turkey has failed, it is still too early to understand exactly what went on. Given those constraints, I still want to discuss something which has altered “the game” so much that the existing guidebook needs to be significantly revised….
Category: Future Warfare
Civilian Operator 101: Hybrid Warfare Historical Study
Russia’s actions in the Ukraine has brought new attention to the concept of “hybrid warfare”. The uptick of interest has been spurred by the waging of hostilities on multiple levels and specifically the seeming novelty of using irregular, political, and information operations in conjunction with more traditional coercion. Such tactics are meant to identify, exacerbate,…
Future Warfare: Russia’s Next Military Game Changer – Microwave Weapons?
New drones and fighters could fry enemy hardware from a distance. Russia will arm its sixth-generation combat drones with microwave weapons. These weapons, which disable an aircraft’s electronic equipment, already exist today “and can hit targets within a radius of tens of kilometers,” said Vladimir Mikheev, a director of state-owned Russian electronics firm KRET, in…
OPSEC Tradecraft: Modern Clandestine Groups Face New Challenges
There were no mobile phones or recording devices allowed at this bizarre encounter. The digital era is perceived as posing new threats to the security of terror groups in Ireland in terms of their being tracked and covertly recorded. Source: The Guardian Bottom Line Up Front Compartmentation via unlinking Strict anti forensic practices to mitigate…
Examining Terrorist Tactics: The Machiavellian Method of ISIS
Like communists of yore, the soldiers of the caliphate are seeking to ‘exacerbate the contradictions’ of those ranged against them. PARIS — Saudi King Salman bin Abdelaziz sounded at once angry and plaintive as he marked the end of this blood-drenched month of Ramadan. The so-called Islamic State, ISIS, had just staged attacks in three…
Europe’s Forgotten War
Fighting in the Donbas Has Never Stopped Despite the existence of a ceasefire agreement, fighting in eastern Ukraine continues and is increasing. On July 5, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and thirteen were wounded. The uptick in fighting began this past January, when Ukrainian officials reported up to seventy-one attacks a day and the OSCE’s…
Military History: Was The Russian Military A SteamRoller From WW2 Until Today?
Joseph Stalin supposedly claimed that “quantity has a quality all its own,” justifying a cannon-fodder mentality and immense casualties. The problem is, Stalin never actually said that, but it fits our stereotype about the Russian military so neatly that everyone believes he did. When it comes to war, Russia is commonly perceived as favoring quantity…
Crusader Corner: The Attack On The ISIS Convoy Is a Tactic As Old As War
Personally, I got a lot of satisfaction watching these ISIS camel turds get wiped off the face of the planet, I hope you do too.-SF Killing retreating soldiers has a long — and totally legal — history As the Iraqi army overran the last of Fallujah’s neighborhoods remaining in the Islamic State’s hands this week, more than 500…
International Military News: China’s New Type 93 Attack Sub
A new image emerged on 21 June providing confirmation of the latest variant of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN). Published on Chinese online forums, the picture shows that the new Shang-class submarine appears to have a new ‘bump’ shape after the sail that may be intended to help…
Modern War: How Tactics Used in Iraq and A-Stan Can Make The U.S. More Vulnerable in Future Wars
We need to ask ourselves which lessons are worth retaining versus which do we think we should retain but make us more vulnerable. Editor’s Note: This article is drawn from a talk given by the author to the Special Operations Medical Association Scientific Assembly in Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 24, 2016. Question: Do the…