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So high technology causes reversion to the tactical status of WWI trench warfare over a century ago. It reminds me of the personal force fields in Dune that onl

So high technology causes reversion to the tactical status of WWI trench warfare over a century ago. It reminds me of the personal force fields in Dune that only allow slow penetration and so revive the use of the sword in combat.

082349872349872 3y ago
Cavalry disappeared from the battlefield in part because horses don't hide well in foxholes; are we at the point where humans don't either? (how are sappers doing? they had some use in Syria, but I imagine radar modalities would make them easy to spot)
Arnt 3y ago
Uhm, don't be so quick to assume that. The first world war wasn't quite as you've heard. The front line was very dynamic in some parts (n the summer of 1915, Russia lost an area an area around half as big as today's Ukraine). It was static in some areas, notably the small areas of the western front where the troop and supply density was enormously high. The German attack at Verdun was just 40km wide, the Russian invalsion now is a >1000km front. During that battle, the Germans committed more soldiers to attacking a single village than the total size of the Russian army now. Maybe you could say that those sections were kept static by extreme resource use, rather than by lack of anything.
Animats 3y ago
This is more like the Viet Cong using tunnel networks because the US had air superiority. The view from the Army War College on Ukraine: [1] Key points: - This kind of warfare kills a lot more soldiers than the US has been used to since WWII. The US military lost only 2.7% of the force that went to Vietnam. Later wars were lower. Russia/Ukraine is far higher. Nobody publishes reliable casualty numbers, but they're huge. The US-style all-volunteer all-pro military model won't work. Those guys get used up fast. It may be necessary to go back to a draft to get enough fresh meat for the grinder. Both Russia and Ukraine are doing that. - Command posts, firebases, or strongpoints anywhere near the front will be found and destroyed. Command posts further back have trouble communicating with front units maintaining radio silence. If it talks, it dies. - Helicopters are not too useful. Too easy to hit. This also implies the end of fast Medevac. [1] https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10/ https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10/
- 082349872349872 3y ago
  > If it talks, it dies. On the bright side, reliance on both broad conscription and mission command really ought to result in improvements to public education... (a mission command anecdote: when speaking with a FSU friend, he related that while Zhukov was on his way to Berlin, the germans had broken russian codes — but it did them little good, because "our boys" were always "disobeying" orders in order to do what was necessary to advance on the ground) > Those guys get used up fast. Stormed at with drone and shell, Boldly they strode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell, Those 3,600.
  - Animats 3y ago
    > On the bright side, reliance on both broad conscription and mission command really ought to result in improvements to public education... That's the romantic version. The reality is sending large numbers of barely-trained conscripts into battle. Many will die. A few will survive as good soldiers.

082349872349872 3y ago

Cavalry disappeared from the battlefield in part because horses don't hide well in foxholes; are we at the point where humans don't either? (how are sappers doing? they had some use in Syria, but I imagine radar modalities would make them easy to spot)

Arnt 3y ago

Uhm, don't be so quick to assume that. The first world war wasn't quite as you've heard. The front line was very dynamic in some parts (n the summer of 1915, Russia lost an area an area around half as big as today's Ukraine). It was static in some areas, notably the small areas of the western front where the troop and supply density was enormously high. The German attack at Verdun was just 40km wide, the Russian invalsion now is a >1000km front. During that battle, the Germans committed more soldiers to attacking a single village than the total size of the Russian army now. Maybe you could say that those sections were kept static by extreme resource use, rather than by lack of anything.

Animats 3y ago

This is more like the Viet Cong using tunnel networks because the US had air superiority. The view from the Army War College on Ukraine: [1] Key points: - This kind of warfare kills a lot more soldiers than the US has been used to since WWII. The US military lost only 2.7% of the force that went to Vietnam. Later wars were lower. Russia/Ukraine is far higher. Nobody publishes reliable casualty numbers, but they're huge. The US-style all-volunteer all-pro military model won't work. Those guys get used up fast. It may be necessary to go back to a draft to get enough fresh meat for the grinder. Both Russia and Ukraine are doing that. - Command posts, firebases, or strongpoints anywhere near the front will be found and destroyed. Command posts further back have trouble communicating with front units maintaining radio silence. If it talks, it dies. - Helicopters are not too useful. Too easy to hit. This also implies the end of fast Medevac. [1] https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10/ https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol53/iss3/10/

082349872349872 3y ago
> If it talks, it dies. On the bright side, reliance on both broad conscription and mission command really ought to result in improvements to public education... (a mission command anecdote: when speaking with a FSU friend, he related that while Zhukov was on his way to Berlin, the germans had broken russian codes — but it did them little good, because "our boys" were always "disobeying" orders in order to do what was necessary to advance on the ground) > Those guys get used up fast. Stormed at with drone and shell, Boldly they strode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of hell, Those 3,600.
- Animats 3y ago
  > On the bright side, reliance on both broad conscription and mission command really ought to result in improvements to public education... That's the romantic version. The reality is sending large numbers of barely-trained conscripts into battle. Many will die. A few will survive as good soldiers.