War, Strategy, and Technology

Lay aside for now the matter of the rightness and legality of this military action. We have grappled with that issue sufficiently, and any further commentary would be purely superfluous. Instead consider this topic: Has the increased use of technology caused the art and science of warfare to retreat to its traditional basis?

In one sense the answer to this question is yes, and in another sense it is no. The yes answer relates to the separation of the battle front and the home front and to some extent to the decrease in combat casualties. The no answer relates to remote strike capabilities and the near-absolute mechanization of military operations.

The origins of warfare are ancient. Since humans have been able to fashion weapons, there have been wars. The first wars involved direct hand-to-hand combat. One soldier fought another soldier whose training derived not from well-defined tactics but from tests of strength and endurance. Flanking maneuvers, guerrilla attacks, and stealth entry were unknown. The maxim was kill or be killed. Mobility was entirely on foot, and the items transported were determined only by each soldier's ability to bear the weight of his equipment.

As various groups emerged to dominate other groups, the need for military mobility increased. The solution to this was presented by a now-extant group known as the Cythians who occupied part of the Asian steppe lands. The Cythians surprised their adversaries in battle by attacking on horseback. Hence emerged the concept of the cavalry. The cavalry, its mobility, and its eventual vulnerability gave rise to the advent of tanks, and tanks in turn led to the creation of mechanized armored divisions.

A similar process led to the development of modern weapons. The advent of gunpowder led to the introduction of rifles, pistols, machine guns, automatic weapons. As cannon technology improved, those shells could be designed for further deployment, certain manners of detonation and fragmentation, etc.

The introduction of aircraft to warfare began with reconnisance ballons. When planes were introduced, the next step in the process required distinct training for fighter and bomber pilots, navigators, etc. Then came the technology for the jet fighters (captured from the German ME262 program). The descendants of the ME262 are the B52, the B1, the F14 to F17A, and almost every other plane involved in modern warfare. Missile technology (also captured from the Germans) led directly to the development of unmanned craft and Tomahawk and Cruise missiles.

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