More than a month after it began, the battle for the Syrian city of Manbij drags on. Now surrounded on all sides by a coalition of Kurds and Arabs, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, and supported by U.S. Special Operations forces as well as dozens of airstrikes, the motley assortment of troops is slowly rooting out Islamic…
Tag: Urban Warfare
Military Defense News: “Virtual Eye” Gives Soldiers The Edge in Urban Warfare
DARPA’s VirtualEye program could change the way soldiers maneuver on the urban battlefield. In just a few years, American soldiers might have the ability to see what’s inside a room before they ever breach it. And while it may not sound like much, that ability could transform the way combat operations are conducted in urban…
Lessons From Stalingrad 73 Years Later
As an amateur World War Two Historian, there are several theaters of the War you must study to get a grasp on the War as a whole. The European and Pacific Theaters take up the bulk of this study of course, but one that has fascinated me for several years is the German/Soviet Theater of…
Mean Streets: The Clash of Technology and Terrain and Urban Warfare
In urban environments, the playing field is levelled between the conventional armies and insurgents BE IT ALEPPO or Damascus, Mosul or Ramadi, or even Eastern Ukraine, combatants in today’s conflicts are frequently fighting in and over urban areas. The decision to wage war in cities is driven in part by modern military technology. Frequently,…
Urban Warfare, Back in the Day
URBAN WARFARE, BACK IN THE DAY Current headlines are replete with stories of urban warfare. Be it Aleppo, Ramadi, Tripoli or some Ukrainian city you only learned of last year, there appears to be no shortage of combatants that want to fight in/over/for some piece of urban terrain. Perhaps a brief step back in to…
Book Review: Rattenkrieg: The Art of ECQ Combat Pistol
Bob Taubert’s latest work, Rattenkrieg: The Art and Science of Close-Quarters Battle Pistol is a book that is right up there with Styer’s Cold Steel or Applegate’s Kill or Get Killed. The book reminds you of the hard fact that necessity is definitely the mother of invention when it comes to relevant and practical combat skills….