Originally Posted by William F. Owen
Hard to say. I would not put down a hard and fast rule concerning numbers, especially since also larger formations act through smaller ones which can be also maneuver and fight semi- and independently. If you look at the level of platoons or sections you can easily come up with a lot of swarming units. So if we understand swarming as a form of convergent attack of a large number of independent units then even "standard" western military forces should be able to do it.
Jan Breytenbach has a number of interesting reviews of many actions and operations of the border war. He gives some good insight why units like the 32. Batallion were so successful in the smaller, guerilla and larger, more conventional phases of the war. Almost all of the decisive qualities span over the whole spectrum of the war. The strategy and the METTC force specific adjustments. He stresses the importance of the delegation of leadership (letting the right people leading the fight, no micromanagement from above), the even greater value of personal initiative as well as the careful and responsive coordination and support of the forces at the higher level which enabled the 32. to outguerilla the guerilla.
A lot of small units fought SWAPO in southern Angola alone or coordinated and forced the enemy with their seemingly non-cohesive btn. to show their lack of cohesion and to retreat hundreds of km northwards. In this instance the highly centralized command structure of SWAPO proved to be unable to cope with so many dispersed and far-flung operations.
Western forces have shown that they are able or even especially well suited for such operations if the circumstances make it necessary. The true question is if politics and the higher ranks muster the will to allow and support it.
Firn
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