Force multiplication

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Force multiplication, in military usage, refers to a combination of technology, intense training, organization, or a combination of all to make a given force more effective than another force of comparable size. Deception as to the presence or size of a unit can increase its effectiveness. Another way to state the idea is that a force multiplier refers to a factor that dramatically increases (hence "multiplies") the effectiveness of an item or group.

Some common force multipliers are:

• Technology
• Morale
• Geographical features
• Weather
• Recruitment through diplomacy
• Training
• Elite units

It seems clear that force multiplication existed before anyone had a name for it. While the Mongols used swarming tactics coordinated by non-electronic communications, such primitive tactics nevertheless made the Mongols the scourge of their opponents. To protect the archers at the Battle of Agincourt, stakes were driven into the ground. This is an example of "combined arms," a doctrinal development and another example of force multiplication.

When WWI aviators first greeted their opponents with friendly waves, no one realized the multiplicative effect of tactical air reconnaissance. However, after the command on both sides became aware of how powerful it could be, aviators started shooting at each other. At first they did so with rifles and then with purpose-built aircraft guns.

Contents 1 Doctrinal changes resulting in force multiplication 2 Psychological factors in force multiplication 3 Force multiplication can be simple 4 Force multiplication through technology 4.1 Multiplication of the effect of bombers 4.2 Fighter combat 5 Force multiplication by creating local forces 6 Force multiplication through deception 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Doctrinal changes resulting in force multiplication

In the First World War, the Germans experimented with what were called "storm tactics," where a small group of highly trained soldiers (stormtroopers) would open a salient through which much larger forces could penetrate. This met with only limited success, while the 1939 Blitzkrieg, which broke through with coordinated mechanized ground forces with aircraft in close support, was vastly more effective.

Towards the end of WWII, the German army introduced kampfgruppe combat formations that were composed of whatever units happened to be available. Though poor quality ones generally constituted the major part of them, they often performed successfully because of their high degree of flexibility and adaptability. Mission-type tactics, as opposed to extremely specific directives that give no discretion to the junior commander, are widely used by modern militaries now due to their force multiplication. Originating from German concepts of Auftragstaktik, these tactics may be developing even more rapidly in the concept of network-centric warfare, where subordinate commanders receive information not only from their own commanders, but from adjacent units.

A different paradigm was one of the results of the theories of John Boyd, the "high-low mix" in which a large number of less expensive aircraft, coupled with a small number of extremely capable "silver bullet" aircraft, had the effect of a much larger force. Boyd's concept of quick action is based on the repeated application of the Boyd loop, consisting of the steps

• Observe: make use of the best sensors and other intelligence available
• Orient: put the new observations into a context with the old
• Decide: select the next action based on the combined observation and local knowledge
• Act: carry out the selected action, ideally while the opponent is still observing your last action.

Boyd's concept is also known as the OODA Loop, and is applicable to all military operations, as well as to civilian competition from sports to business.

Network-centric warfare can provide additional information and can help prevent fratricide, but also allows swarm tactics ^[1] and the seizing of opportunities by subordinate forces. These are a realization of Boyd's theories. (Rand-Edwards-2000 pg. 2) defines " "a swarming case is any historical example in which the scheme of maneuver involves the convergent attack of five (or more) semiautonomous (or autonomous) units on a targeted force in some particular place. "Convergent" implies an attack from most of the points on the compass."

Another version of "swarming" is evident in air-to-ground attack formations in which the attack aircraft do not approach from one direction, at one time, or at the same altitude, but schedule the attacks so each one requires a Boyd-style OODA iteration to deal with a new threat ^[2]. Replacement training units (RTU) were "finishing schools" for pilots that needed to know not just the school solution, but the actual tactics being used in Vietnam. Referring to close air support, "In the RTU, new pilots learned the rules of the road for working with a Forward Air Controller (FAC). The hardest part was finding the small aircraft as it circled over the target area. The fast-moving fighters used directional finding/steering equipment to get close enough to the slow, low FAC until someone in the flight could get an eyeball on him—a tally-ho. Once the FAC was in sight, he would give the fighters a target briefing—type of target, elevation, attack heading, location of friendlies, enemy defensive fire, best egress heading if hit by enemy fire, and other pertinent data. Usually the fighters would set up a circle, called a wheel or wagon wheel, over the FAC, and wait for him to mark the target. Once the target was marked, the flight leader would attack first.

[edit] Psychological factors in force multiplication

Napoleon is well known for his comment "The moral is to the physical as three to one ^[3]." Former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell has said: "Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier." ^[4] Morale, training, and ethos have long been known to result in disproportionate effects on the battlefield. A volunteer military is, soldier for soldier, significantly more effective than a conscription force.

Psychological Warfare can target the morale, politics, and values of enemy soldiers and their supporters to effectively neutralize them in a conflict.

[edit] Force multiplication can be simple

A small group of well-equipped, well-trained soldiers with the sun at their backs may be more capable of defending a fortified mountainous position than a larger group of poorly equipped, poorly-trained soldiers with the sun in their faces is capable of assaulting the same position. Careful selection of the battle site, which is often considered operational art, clearly multiplies the effectiveness of the force that selects it.

A given infantry division may be able to advance 12 miles (20 km) in a day. Assigning trucks to this division will act as a force multiplier allowing the division to advance 40 miles (65 km) in a day. Air support, artillery, and other specialized weapons systems are other examples of factors that may dramatically increase the division's capabilities. In a similar vein, air-to-air refueling tankers employed by some Air Forces throughout the world are massive force multipliers with aircraft - negating having to travel all the way back to a military base or carrier in order to refuel on a frequent basis - thus extending the ranges of fighters and bombers, keeping fighters over their targets or on Combat Air Patrols for significantly more time, and the like.

[edit] Force multiplication through technology

A small force is multiplied when a small number of units are made as effective as a much larger one. In the First World War, there were two abortive experiments where, had the high commands had the imagination to realize the potential use of new weapons, there could have been a massive breakthrough through the stalemate of trench warfare. The first was the large-scale German use of chemical weapons at the Second Battle of Ypres, and the second was the large-scale British use of tanks at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Either of these new attack methods could have opened an enormous breach in the enemy lines, but failed, as did the Battle of the Crater in the American Civil War

[edit] Multiplication of the effect of bombers

At one extreme, a stealthy aircraft can attack a target without needing the large numbers of escort fighters, electronic warfare, air defense suppression, and other supporting aircraft that would be needed were conventional bombers used against the same target.

Whether or not the aircraft have low observability, precision guided munitions (PGM) give an immense multiplication. The Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam had been only mildly damaged by approximately 800 sorties by aircraft armed with conventional "dumb" bombs, but had one of its spans destroyed by a 12-plane mission, of which 8 carried laser-guided bombs. Two small subsequent missions, again with laser-guided bombs, completed the destruction of this target. Precision guided munitions are one example of what has been called the Revolution in Military Affairs, In WWII, British night bombers could hit, at best, an area of a city.

Modern PGMs commonly put a bomb within 3-10 meters of its target. See the use of heavy bombers in direct support of friendly troops in Afghanistan, using the technique of Ground-Aided Precision Strike.

[edit] Fighter combat

Fighter aircraft coordinated by an AWACS control aircraft, so that they can approach targets without being revealed by their own radar, and who are assigned to take specific targets so that duplication is avoided, is far more effective than an equivalent number of fighters dependent on their own resources for target acquisition.

In exercises between the Indian and US air forces, the Indian pilots had an opportunity to operate with AWACS control, and found it extremely effective ^[5]. India has ordered AWACS aircraft, using Israeli Phalcon electronics on a Russian airframe, and this exercise is part of their preparation. Officer and pilot comments included "definitely was a force multiplier. Giving you an eye deep beyond you"... "We could pick up incoming targets whether aircraft or missiles almost 400 kilometers away. It gives a grand battle coordination in the air".

[edit] Force multiplication by creating local forces

The use of small numbers of specialists to create larger effective forces is another form of multiplication. The basic A Team of US Army Special Forces is a 12-man unit that can train and lead a company-sized unit (100-200 men) of local guerrillas. While it is not clear when the term "force multiplier" first appeared in the military literature, the use of small teams to raise much larger guerrilla units was among the first uses of the term.

[edit] Force multiplication through deception

Deception can produce the potential effect of a much larger force. The fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG) was portrayed to the WWII Germans as the main force for the invasion of Europe. Operation Bodyguard ^[6] successfully gave the impression that FUSAG was to land at the Pas de Calais, convincing the Germans that the real attack at Normandy was a feint. As a result of the successful deception, the Normandy force penetrated deeply, in part, because the Germans held back strategic reserves that they thought would be needed at the Pas de Calais, against what was a nonexistent force. FUSAG's existence was suggested by the use of decoy vehicles that the Allies allowed to be photographed, fictitious radio traffic generated by a small number of specialists, and the Double Cross System ^[7]. Double Cross referred to turning all surviving German spies in the UK into double agents, who sent back convincing reports that were consistent with the deception programs being conducted by the London Controlling Section.

[edit] See also

• Network-centric warfare
• asymmetric warfare
• C4ISTAR

[edit] References