Urban / City Warfare (merged thread)

[slapout9]

1-I would try and hi-jack some of the US vehicles and use them against them.

2-IED's are just land mines to me and they could be exploited a lot further than they have been without having to use any type of remote or electronic ignition.

3-Animal/insect delivered bio-agent.

4-Scorched earth/ burn the place down since I couldn't get out alive.

5-A lot of off the shelf security technology could be altered/used to give me some of the same benefits you would have.

6-Hand held guided missiles that could be built locally, pretty much by hand.

[Schmedlap]

- Figure out how they gather their intelligence and then feed them information that leads them to conclude that raids or airstrikes must be conducted at x school or y mosque or z children's clinic. Then invite the media for the after-party.

- Sabotage or infect the water supply at the start of summer, creating a humanitarian disaster to blame on the occupiers

- Have 10-year-olds fire mortars and dare the US to fire counterbattery.

- Arrange outdoor meeting places for women only, where even the most conservative women could feel comfortable walking about unveiled only around other women and then accuse the US of using their UAVs to spy on the women to satisfy their perversions.

- Conduct peaceful demonstrations demanding that the US leave; turn it into a media circus where unarmed civilians shout at armed US Soldiers and throw shoes and rocks at them

- Arm insurgents with reflective belts

[Ken White]

- arm insurgents with reflective belts.

:d

[Fuchs]

So the 900 pound gorilla has finally learned how to hit a squirrel without hurting himself too much?
I doubt that this would work against another gorilla.

It's possible to adapt. Camouflage, concealment and deception would work just fine.

The army may have learned to copy police methods (police helicopter support) on larger scale. That's no solution, it's just some support.


Airpower has played an important role in urban warfare before without being a great solution.

(picture is on MY webspace)

[Ken White]

it would work against even a reasonably sized Rhesus Monkey, much less a Gorilla...

[Schmedlap]

It's possible to adapt. Camouflage, concealment and deception would work just fine.

Yup. The best form of camouflage is the populace. We've gotten better at spotting insurgent activity when they think that they're safe from detection, let their guard down, and don't use camouflage. There's a fix to that. Call the people out into the streets and smuggle weapons through the market places or emplace IEDs while surrounded by crowds. All that the UAV is going to see is a mass of people. Likewise, fire your mortars and rockets from crowded open-air markets. What are we gonna do about it? Shoot back and kill everyone in the market place? We're seeing the blowback from that in Pakistan. Looks like the Taliban pretty much figured out what the Shia militiamen didn't.

I also disagree with the author's assertion that we are doing things "cleanly and cheaply." There is nothing cheap about multiple UAVs, air weapons teams, armored vehicles, etc. There is also nothing clean about taking 5 years to gather the necessary intelligence and develop the techniques and procedures necessary to "dominate" a unique piece of terrain. I also dispute that we are dominant - as opposed to having an advantage that could slip away - and I think it is worth emphasizing again that the terrain that we are allegedly dominating is unique and it has taken us too long to figure out how to be more successful on that unique piece of terrain. Our slow climb up the learning curve is a frightening indicator of our ability to apply our craft in areas outside of that few square miles of ground. Rather than patting outselves on the backs, we should be asking why it took us so long to get to this point.

[The Cuyahoga Kid]

Looking for some clarification here.

Are the article and associated comments referring to the multiple challenges caused by urban terrain during COIN and low intensity operations specifically, challenges caused by urban terrain during conventional warfare and high intensity conflict specifically or challenges caused by urban terrain during both?

Also, there are a variety of disadvantages to operating in urban terrain while engaged in a counter insurgency which previous posters have mentioned, including collateral damage, use of civilian areas by enemy forces and a restrictive operating environment. But are there any advantages which urban terrain offers to the COIN forces while conducting a counter insurgency campaign?

[Jones_RE]

I'll bite. The urban environment offers a concentrated population which may make providing security easier - i.e. you don't have dozens of scattered villages to protect. It may also simplify some of the logistics of delivering humanitarian aid. Cities tend to grow up in accessible areas. However, I'd bet that overall the urban environment makes things harder.