Warfare and the Challenges (4th Generation & 5th Generation)– Projects Execution

Fifth generation warfare is an interesting development, where non-state warriors fight nation states out of sheer frustration without clear political objectives. According to a US Army Major Shannon Beebe this kind of warfare would be motivated by frustration than any other material or ideological objective.

Military tools, capabilities and kinetic means are now only for deterrence between two or more nuclear rivals. They have been replaced by the non-kinetic means of statecraft, such as, information, technology, diplomacy and economics.

Today, the world we live in is not what our ancestors had experienced. Conflicts are still out there, but their nature and patterns have changed to a great extent. The post-Cold War world is different, and the role of international organizations, along with international treaties has changed the way international actors engage in conflicts in the contemporary era.

The major change this world has witnessed in the 21st century is the rise of non-state actors in the international arena, and the rise of geo-economics. The traditional methods, such as military means and kinetic means are being abandoned by the countries when formulating their foreign policy, because states have realized that war is not the solution. Chances of success are truncated in wars, and the ramifications, such as human causalities, reconstruction and cost factors are too high.

4th Generation Warfare: This warfare is a departure from the standard tactics of the previous generations, wherein the participants in a war relied upon huge numbers, better firepower and most importantly, meeting each other in the middle of a battlefield. Some characteristics of 4th GW are:

·        Mission orders that enable the combatants to operate more flexibly 4th GW requires combatants to operate locally, since the war is “mostly fought in a dispersed manner throughout the whole of the enemy’s society”

·        Decentralized logistics enable the combatants to be able to fend themselves in whatever way they can, depending on the environment they find themselves in

·        Agility and adaptability is preferred over firepower and mass armies

·        Hitting and destroying the enemies’ infrastructure and centers of gravity. Sometime, this may include the culture of the nation-state as well. So basically, precise strikes that inflict the most damage to a nation without attacking the population of a nation

5th Generation Warfare: A very broad definition of 5th GW would be the oversight of humans from the actual war, or non-contact warfare. Some examples would be use of drones to fire Hellfire missiles, or the dropping of laser-guided missiles in 1968 in Vietnam.

Hybrid warfare: To me, Hybrid warfare seems to be an extension of 4th GW, with elements of 5th GW thrown in. The basic gist is that Hybrid warfare is no-limits warfare. Aggressors will employ and use any means necessary to bring down a nation. Along with strategic attacks designed to throw the nation’s infrastructure in chaos, the aggressors will also attack the general population via “influencing methods, such as fake news, diplomacy and foreign electoral intervention” 

5th GW consists of warfare tactics designed to hit targets with precision guided weapons systems, thereby reducing the enemy numbers instantaneously while also involving the minimum required human personnel on the actual field

HW is an extension of 4th GW with elements of 5th GW thrown in. Aggressors will use advanced weapons systems to attack, can be state or non-state actors, will participate in cyber-warfare to weaken the nation’s defenses and also stage psychological attacks on the nation’s population through online media.

 The fifth-generation warfare notion wraps up network-centric warfare, combat cloud, multi-domain battle, and fusion warfare concepts. These are all important ideas that do not exist individually but rather function together as an integrated interdependent system of systems where the whole is greater than the parts. Intrinsically, how the fifth-generation idea will apply tactically, operationally, and strategically will vary with the context. Moreover, the idea remains evolving and there may be new elements yet to be incorporated. This is an area were much thinking remains to be done.

Feedback is required from the Domain Experts…. Many thanks