As I have said before, some people learn best by being told how things work, some learn by remembering all the facts and some people learn best by seeing a working example. To try to cover all our option here I shall finish off with a little story about a fictional attack on an enemy position. It will seem a little ‘busy’ but I have tried to involve as many of the options and possibilities as I could so you will see where they all fit in.
The standard format for a mission briefing, as I have shown previously, is GSMEACS – Ground, Situation, Mission, Enemy forces, Attachments and Detachments, Commands and Signals. Don’t think I have forgotten, but some of this standard information is irrelevant here as this story is more than a briefing and continues through the actual contact to the end of the mission.
The situation
The Western Alliance is occupying a country similar to Afghanistan on the pretext that we are bringing freedom, democracy, education and the emancipation of women to the locals while preventing Islamic insurgents and extremists from training and organizing attacks on Europe and the USA. We will refer to the country we are occupying as ‘Country A’.
While there is some definite truth in this we also intend to control an oil supply pipeline which runs westwards across the north of landlocked Country A to a West-friendly sea port in a neighbouring country and also gain access to strategic reserves within Country A which include 36 trillion cubic feet (1,000 km3) of natural gas, 3.6 billion barrels of petroleum and up to 1,325 million barrels of other natural gas liquids. Recent reports also show huge amounts of gold, copper, coal, iron ore and other minerals.
A few years ago we crushed the Third World defences of Country A in a conventional blitzkrieg. First our air assets destroyed their conventional assets and then we occupied the country. After which an interim government was installed. Almost immediately after the new government took over a strong Islamic insurgency movement sprang up and made Country A impossible for the local government to control without a huge and costly Western military presence. The aim of the insurgent foot soldiers is to throw the Western invading infidels out of their land and install an Islamic government while the leaders of the insurgency want to control the oil pipeline and have access to their country’s mineral wealth.
Since taking over, the Western Alliance has built up an occupying army of over 100,000 men, not including civilian military contractors, and is making life difficult for the insurgents by active patrolling and air strikes against targets identified by agents, satellites and drones. Our unquestioned air superiority means that the insurgents are unable to field a ground force of significant size without our air assets destroying it so they are laying mines and IEDs against our foot patrols and supply convoys, sending a steady stream of suicide bombers to kill civilians in markets or soldiers at vehicle check points and destroy any government buildings they can gain access to. There has in recent weeks been a series of effective attacks against our helicopters using Stinger type ground-to-air missiles and this is causing serious problems in both the supply and the support of our ground troops from the air.
IEDs killing our men on the ground and effective missile attacks against our helicopters are widely reported on the international news and this is causing difficulty at home by raising a groundswell of voter opposition to the occupation. If the insurgents’ attacks are not rendered less effective they may lead to a total withdrawal of our troops and the loss of resources vital to the West because, without our intervention, these would be annexed by China or Russia.
To the south of Country A there is a country similar to Pakistan. We will refer to it as Country P. This country is playing a double game: they are friendly to the West on the surface – as otherwise we would invade or destroy them on one pretext or another – but there is a strong sympathy for the insurgents and a wish to aid them in driving out the invader. But of course they must be careful not to be shown to be aiding the insurgents. If the West could be removed from Country A then Country P would be able to exploit the natural resources of the country by supplying access to deep water ports for the export of minerals from Country A, a major advantage to a relatively poor country and also a way to increase its own power in the region.
A standard tactic of insurgents the world over is to use camps in a neighbouring country for training, resupply and R&R. Insurgent missions are launched from this neighbouring country and afterwards insurgents escape there if they can. Usually the occupying forces cannot destroy bases in a sovereign foreign country nor chase insurgents into their territory.
In this particular case the government of Country P claims to have little control over those areas of its own country which border Country A but refuses to give Western Forces access. These wild and mountainous areas are being used by the insurgents of Country A for all the purposes listed above plus these same insurgents are carrying out attacks on our supply convoys passing through Country P on their way to Country A. While they are attacking our supply lines almost with impunity, the military of Country P are doing little to stop them.
For some time now our generals have been sending unmanned drone aircraft such as the Predator and Reaper attack drones to find, observe and destroy insurgent camps and safe houses inside Country P. These have been supported by local agents on the ground but, as ever, the targets the agents supply are sometimes good but sometimes chosen to settle local scores; and occasionally they are selected to destroy a compound hosting a wedding or similar to strengthen anti-Western feeling.
Reaper spec
Drones are changing the way SF troops fight battles. The Reaper is one drone that is leading the way and you will become increasingly familiar with. Target acquisition includes the Raytheon AN/AAS-52 multi-spectral targeting sensor suite, a colour/monochrome daylight TV, infra-red and image-intensified TV with laser range-finder/target designator which can designate targets for laser guided munitions. The Synthetic Aperture Radar system enables GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) targeting, is capable of very fine resolution in both spotlight and strip modes and has the capability to indicate ground moving targets. It can carry up to 14 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or four Hellfire missiles and two 500lb (230kg) GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs. The 500lb (230kg) GBU-38 JDAM are another optional extra. Testing is currently underway to support the operation of the AIM-92 Stinger air-to-air missile for use against unfriendly air assets.
Reaper MQ-9 drone carrying about four times the bomb load of a Predator. (USAF)
Our Special Forces have, on occasion, been sent into Country P both in hot pursuit of terrorists and in small raids just over the border. The limiting danger has always been that a diplomatic incident would be caused by the capture of any Western soldier inside Country P, and Country P is, quite understandably, already angry about our incursions.
A report has just come in that there is an insurgent base 50km inside Country P which is both a training camp for insurgents and a storage facility for the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles which are being supplied to the insurgents by Country P.
Our generals consider it vital that these missiles are destroyed to ensure the safety of our helicopters. In addition if proof can be obtained that clearly shows that Country P has supplied the missiles then our diplomats can prevent the supply of further missiles. Drones or bombers can destroy a camp from the air but they cannot collect paperwork or take prisoners. Only ground troops can do that.