Walker Mills
Suppression.
Any infantryman volition live familiar alongside this term. And for skillful reason. It’s a tried-and-tested characteristic of successful battlefield tactics. But what does it genuinely mean? The response isn’t equally clear equally 1 mightiness promise for a doctrinal term. And it invites a follow-on inquiry that is deeply of import on the battlefield of tomorrow: What are the most effective methods of suppression? As an operational term, U.S. doctrine is clear. “Suppression” is listed inward DoD’s official dictionary, defined equally “temporary or transient degradation yesteryear an opposing forcefulness of the performance of a weapons arrangement below the degree needed to fulfill its mission objectives.” It is usually understood to live the final result of either straight or indirect burn downwards on the enemy—this is reinforced inward MCRP 3-10A.4, Marine Rifle Squad. However the Army’s analogous manual, ATP 3-21.8, Infantry Platoon together with Squad does non specify a method, implying that in that location tin live other agency of suppression. “A platoon or team has suppressed an enemy when the enemy cannot forestall our forces from accomplishing their mission,” it says. “It is a temporary measure.” MCTP 3-01A, Scouting together with Patrolling genuinely does offers an option method, suggesting that riot command agents tin live used to suppress: “Fire back upwards agencies tin live utilized to suppress targets; riot command agents, tin live employed to disrupt enemy movement.”
Recent non–live fire, force-on-force exercises inward Camp Pendleton, California showed that a novel tool mightiness live uniquely suited to suppressing enemy targets: small-scale unmanned aerial systems (SUAS). Under specific conditions, SUAS are capable of effective suppression without the demand to employ whatever other weapons systems. Given that suppression is a critical task infantry units must live capable of conducting, nosotros receive got a professional person obligation to explore the possibility of suppression yesteryear alternate means.
Consider the scenario encountered inward the champaign practice at Camp Pendleton:
You are on patrol alongside a squad-sized element. You remove heed the buzz of SUAS overhead. Your immediate activity drill is to seek the nearest encompass together with concord yet spell yous radio higher to confirm whether the SUAS is friendly or hostile. While waiting for a response yous remain equally yet equally possible to avoid beingness noticed yesteryear the SUAS. Higher confirms that the SUAS is hostile together with yous know from the operations gild that the enemy has the capability to telephone telephone for burn downwards based on real-time SUAS feed. Without confirmation that yous receive got been spotted your best selection is to concord firm, together with promise the SUAS moves elsewhere. If yous unmask your team yous volition growth the likelihood yous are spotted together with yous cannot outrun the SUAS.
This team is unable to croak along its patrol, alter formations, or fifty-fifty organize an effective defence because whatever potential unmasking of the squad’s Marines mightiness expose them to detection yesteryear the SUAS together with indirect fire. The team is unable to employ its weapons systems without discovery itself, thence has no way of neutralizing or destroying the SUAS. The Marines tin only await until it leaves the area. The team suppressed.
To live sure, SUAS suppression is only possible nether specific conditions. What are they?
Units react to SUAS observation yesteryear at 1 time concealing themselves together with halting all movement.
Units are aware that they are potentially nether audible or visual observation yesteryear the SUAS.
The SUAS is linked alongside a credible threat of kinetic action, either targeting for indirect burn downwards or alongside its ain organic capabilities.
Units do non receive got organic counter-UAS capabilities.
The threat of SUAS targeting is greater than ground-based action.
These 5 weather condition are specific, but sure non thence specific equally to brand SUAS suppression a niche capability. It is also clear, from the concluding condition, that SUAS suppression would live insufficient to back upwards an assail alone. We know that drone-based targeting together with drone-launched munitions are already established capabilities together with receive got been repeatedly employed inward Ukraine together with the Middle East. The Marine Corps has already taken steps to acquire the novel Switchblade loitering munition produced yesteryear AreoViroment. To date, the U.S. has employed drone-launched munitions inward roles where the targets were close sure unaware that they were beingness targeted. The intent was lethal together with precise strikes on unwitting targets. But what would the potential live for lethal drones that loitered over the target for equally long equally possible? Consider the same scenario 1 time again but alongside SUAS capable of dropping 40-millimeter grenades.
You are on patrol alongside a squad-sized element. You remove heed the buzz of SUAS overhead. Your immediate activity drill is to seek the nearest encompass together with concord yet spell yous radio higher to confirm whether the SUAS is friendly or hostile. While waiting for a response yous remain equally yet equally possible to avoid beingness noticed yesteryear the SUAS. Higher confirms that the SUAS is hostile together with yous know from the operations gild that the enemy has the capability drib 40-millimeter grenades from SUAS alongside one-meter precision. The SUAS circles your position, together with yous believe it has spotted your patrol but yous do non scream upwards it has spotted each individual. You cannot displace because yous mightiness farther expose yourself. You receive got to await for the SUAS to remove a target together with expend his munition or piece of work out the area.
Again, the team is suppressed. Imagine the psychological touching on of a unit of measurement that knows alongside reasonable certainty it has been spotted, but individuals may remain masked. Everyone is hoping non to live the unlucky 1 when the batteries of the SUAS run downwards together with the operator chooses a target. The outcome is non dissimilar that of an unidentified sniper pinning downwards a patrol. The patrol does non receive got a way to bang back, together with the private Marines cannot know what the sniper tin see. They receive got to wait, without whatever certainty that they are covered or concealed.
There is also a strong historical together with tactical precedent for suppression from the air. Flybys of unopen air back upwards aircraft receive got been used to suppress—as good equally for similar tactical tasks similar prepare together with disrupt—since the evolution of unopen air back upwards doctrine. Notably, during the Korean War, Marine aviation oft used daytime flyovers inward improver to or inward conjunction alongside kinetic actions to suppress Chinese together with Korean forces. Significantly, the threat of unopen air back upwards was plenty to forcefulness many enemy formations to restrain all operations to hours of darkness. Much to a greater extent than lately inward Republic of Iraq together with Afghanistan, both jet together with helicopter pilots receive got used flyovers equally a technique to disrupt insurgent attacks together with ambushes without using bombs, rockets, or guns. Unarmed C-130 aircraft receive got been flown inward patterns that mimic AC-130 gunships inward overwatch, which are indistinguishable at 10,000 feet. Often the presence of aircraft on the battlefield solitary was plenty to disrupt together with deter attacks fifty-fifty earlier whatever ordnance was delivered.
Knowing that SUAS volition provoke a specific reaction inward an enemy forcefulness agency SUAS tin live used deliberately to trigger that reaction. At this fourth dimension it appears that the most reasonable reaction to SUAS overhead is to become to ground, which prevents a unit of measurement from employing its weapon systems or fulfilling its assigned mission. It follows that SUAS, nether the correct status set, tin live employed to suppress, disrupt, together with prepare small-scale enemy units. It is also of import to banking concern annotation that SUAS suppression would live most effective when employed inward improver to straight or indirect burn downwards suppression. Employment inward this mode gives a small-scale unit of measurement leader a valuable non-kinetic selection for fixing, disrupting, or suppressing an enemy unit.
We tin live virtually certain, yesteryear this point, that UAS together with SUAS volition pervade the hereafter battlefield. Non-kinetic suppression yesteryear aircraft is non a novel tactic, but the describe of piece of work tin live done alongside unmanned aerial systems equally good equally manned aircraft. And the proliferation of these systems, especially unarmed variants that are inexpensive together with commercially available, makes them ideal for job inward this way. We tin also view the value of using a mix of SUAS systems that receive got lethal together with non-lethal capabilities to complement each other. We demand to brand sure that nosotros tin duet emerging technologies similar these alongside effective together with lethal employment. Only thence tin nosotros create decisive capability on the battlefield.
1st Lt. Walker Mills is an Infantry Officer inward the U.S. Marine Corps. He is currently a pupil at the Defense Language Institute inward Monterey, California.
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