Urban / City Warfare (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

An app created using a map seized from Islamic State was a "game changer" in the battle to defeat the extremists in Raqqa, a British man who fought the murderous group has said....Speaking to the Press Association, the 30-year-old said he understands the app was put together by the Americans using a very detailed map of Raqqa that was captured from IS: "I would be walking down the street and would take fire from a building or I would see enemy movement or a tank, all I'd have to do is move my dot, get the grid coordinates and call it in."

Link:https://www.forces.net/news/anti-isi...p-retake-raqqa

[davidbfpo]

Jason Burke, a journalist with The Guardian and writer on terrorism, has this very well-timed article, which draws on history and seeks to explain why terrorists know attacks in cities matter.

Here is a "taster":

f the urban environment offers practical assistance to the aspirant terrorist – a degree of anonymity, ease of sourcing components or funds, proximity to others in a network, communication facilities, transport – it also offers a wealth of targets. The nature of these virtually guarantees what all terrorists seek: attention.

He ends with:

The history of terrorism is thus the history of our cities. The history of our cities, at least over the last 150 years or so, is in part the history of terrorism. This is a deadly, inextricable link that is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...hip-terrorism?

In today's mailbox was a - startling for me - WoTR article on the Tet 1968 offensive in South Vietnam; which had an urban focus. A military failure for the NVA / VC, but a strategic victory. Worth a read.
Link:https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/im...tet-offensive/

Reading these articles and the coverage on the very recent, brutal Taliban / ISIS attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan, could GIRoA and its allies be in danger of repeating the Tet offensive?

[SWJ Blog]

The Future Battlefield: Army, Marines Prepare for ‘Massive’ Fight in Megacities

Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.

[SWJ Blog]

Preparing for the Urban Future of Counterinsurgency

Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.

[Windows97]

Every so called urban training area I've seen looks more like a small village with neatly spread out buildings. When I think of Urban warfare, FIBUA or MOUT, I hink of central London or the Brazilian favelas. Maybe someone should contact the Japanese Gov and lease Hashima island also, for a more atmospheric look see here. At Least it looks like a slice of a city! Also it's out in the ocean so no noise concerns...Battle-Ship_Island_Nagasaki_Japan.jpg

[davidbfpo]

This paper The Worst of Both Worlds: An analysis of urban littoral combat by Dr Dayton McCarthy is from Australia. I have only skimmed the introduction and the papers itself is 5Mb. The intro's key passage:

This is a paper about fighting in cities on coastlines – the contemporary topic of the combat in the ‘urban littoral’. This paper argues that urban littoral combat is the ‘worst of both worlds’ and brings together two of the most difficult forms of warfare – urban and amphibious operations.

Link:https://www.army.gov.au/our-future/a...ations/army-25

[davidbfpo]

A pointer to the Modern War Institute's Urban Warfare Project collection of articles:https://mwi.usma.edu/urban-warfare-project/

[AdamG]

(CNN)The coming decades will see the growth of colossal megacities as the world's population increasingly moves into urban environments, a new United Nations report predicts.
Today, 55% of the world's population is urban, a figure which is expected to grow to 68% by 2050, with the addition of 2.5 billion new city residents, according to projections by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
By 2030, there will be 43 megacities around the world with populations of over 10 million, up from 33 similarly sized urban centers today and just 10 in 1990.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/world...ntl/index.html