VIEWS OF ASYMMETRY IN OPERATIONS

Dipl. Eng. Antonín KRÁSNÝ, Ph.D.

Abstract:This paper deals with asymmetry in conicts and operations. Based on current

views, it analyzes the term of asymmetry in military operations and highlights possible future asymmetric threats and potential asymmetric enemies. It deals with asymmetry in low-intensity conicts and summarizes their possible future developments. Further, it refers to the currently often used term of “Asymmetric Operations” and examines whether this is really a “new” term giving a true picture of types and characteristics of present-day operations.

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GeneralNational security has been more and more determined by country’s capacity to

counter military aggression as well as non-military threats. The strengthening external aspects must be considered getting out of control of states separately. Those effects resulting from the globalization process most clearly manifest in economy and infor-mation spheres causing increase of some non-military “asymmetric” security threats. Numerous effects on operation ow as known so far – see Figure 1 – may even call rise of asymmetric conicts (wars). It is envisaged that future operations will be affected by largely often use of sharply asymmetric measures, methods, forms, goals, thus asym-metry of rival parties.

Figure 1: Elementary classication of military operations83

VIEWS OF ASYMMETRY IN OPERATIONS

OPERATION WAR /OTHER THAN WAR

COMBAT

OFFENSIVE DEFENSIVE STABILIZATION SUPPORT

NON-COMBAT

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Asymmetry apprehensionWhen assessing asymmetry in operations the mostly criteria will be quality and

quantity, i.e. equipment and amount of engaged force and assets on each side; regular or irregular forces, i.e. type of enemy and their warfare. The above mentioned implies that asymmetry has been involved in every operation so far, at whole scale or at least at certain place and time otherwise no decision by force could not be made and the conicts would have ended in reconciliation as the resources depleted on both the combatant sides (such as Iraq x Iran).

Today an asymmetric conict is perceived as a conict (war), in which unex-pected and non-traditional courses are used to break enemy effort, avoid his strong points and jeopardize his vulnerable points with unforeseen technology or other updated assets; or as a conict, in which unconventional approaches are used to avoid and infringe enemy force utilising his vulnerable points.

The military strategists and experts dene the asymmetric conict as a conict (war) deviating from the standard conict or indirect access to affect balance of the opposing forces. Such conicts are nothing of a new type of war. The belligerents have for years endeavoured to suppress (negate) the force of one another or to avoid force solution with uncertain result. However, they always have attempted to use force against enemy weak points. The asymmetric war may be perceived as strategy, tactics or method of conict waging. To succeed in the conict it is necessary to understand asymmetric warfare methods and get ready to answer them.

The asymmetric effort involves actions of both small tactical and large operation force scale against enemy vulnerable points to attain substantially higher effect than in classical conventional operation courses of action. Though, very important is to stress the psychological effect to unnerve the enemy and utilise it for achieving the strategic objectives even in relatively small-scale operations or relatively unsuccessful opera-tions.

For military and national security asymmetry means actions, measures and think-ing different from enemy’s to gain initiative or more freedom of action depending upon maximum utilisation of own advantage and exploitation of enemy weak points. The levels of such effort may be political strategy, military strategy, operation or combina-tion of these. At the same time it means engagement of various methods, technologies or assets of great importance and their application in the so far known types of operation – see Figure 2, their organization, necessary time gain, etc. The operations may feature with short or long duration. They may be pre-planned or lead ad hoc as the potential aggressor chooses the most suitable situation or moment to launch the action. The opera-tions involve both psychological (mental) and physical (material) aspects.

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Figure 2: Spectrum of military operations

Spectrum of potential enemies Future warfare will not be subject to logical classication even though two trends

or features would develop together or contradictory. It will reect the trends in variable domains. To make the analysis easier and simpler two academic approaches are outlined to describe and satisfactory illustrate the whole spectrum of the issue. The issue scheme is depicted in a 3D diagram in Figure 3 that provides space into which every “army” may be located concerning its levels of technology, training, professional rate and size.

defence offence - land - air - landing - amphibious - maritime - special - psychological

Domestic crisis response rescue

humanitarian - - Peace operation -

-

Large Scale Tactical Scale

support stabilization

OPERATION

Joint

Multinational

by nat. force

COMBAT OPERATION

NON-COMBAT OPERATION

Figure 3: Three-Dimensional classication scheme

Completelymodernized

forces

Mechanizedunits

Infantryforces

Governmentpolice forces

Irregular(non-government)

forces

High

Technologylevel

Low Level of professionals / Training Small

AF size

Large

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Figure 4 shows two contingent examples. Example 1 represents combat intercep-tion of two modern, well-armed and trained militaries, while example 2 illustrates a clash of modern forces and forces (organization) unnecessarily representing or charac-terizing a usual army by arrangement or structure. The two examples of combat engage-ment are and will be quite common. Furthermore, many armies gain the ability to involve in both types of conict.

The future operation environment character will integrate more the multi-dimen-sional perspectives than the term of “battleeld” being often perceived as a limited area of countryside in today warfare approach. Future clash description employs the term of “battlespace”. It reects and incorporates the space three dimensions and also increasing effect of electronic warfare or information war within the conict.

Asymmetric enemy characteristicsAs shown in Example 2 the modern, well trained Alliance forces, armed with

sophisticated weapon systems may face a conict with armed forces controlled by lobby groups who unnecessary may represent a state system and such an armed organisation a regular army. The personnel of such forces may and will be persons who cannot be necessarily considered traditional soldiers; making thus the forces irregular.

A conict of similar character may burst between a patriotic or religious move-ment and deployed Alliance forces. Those “non-government” forces may request termi-nation of state establishment, however the criterion for nal solution may be obscure. Such a conict battlespace shall comprise the area of conict together with the whole communication space including state establishment. The attack of such an asymmetric enemy shall not limit to only military targets but may involve also government institu-tions, civilian population, economic or cultural centres or other key targets for media attraction.

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Figure 4: Two examples of future conicts

Completelymodernized

forces

Mechanizedunits

Infantryforces

Governmentpolice forces

Irregular(non-government)

forces

High

Technologylevel

Low Level of professionals / Training Small

AF size

Large

Example 2

Example 1

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Operation asymmetry characteristicsThe contemporary and the more future armed conicts shall probably most often

employ “asymmetric operations”1 more likely operations with sharp asymmetric fea-tures. The following characteristics apply:

Versatility. The danger made by totalitarian countries, terrorists and maa groups is both “really” and “virtually” versatile among at the community of developed demo-cratic countries and their armed forces, policies or economy.

Information warfare. Information warfare, a well-known course of military actions shall be lead at all levels and in all spheres of armed warfare utilising contempo-rary propaganda assets. It involves collection of information on one hand and prevention of its gain by the enemy on the other. Operations of all types shall includes the following elements:

– Information attacks,– Information protection of friendly forces,– Information manoeuvre.

Protection emphasis. As the enemy culture and values vary, deterrence based on the loss risk logic may lack efciency. Prevention, however important, shall be uneasy obtainable since it requires right understanding of enemy motivation, interests and goals. However, for different values no efcient prevention can be made until potential enemy logic understood.

Population abuse. The enemy is supposable to move the war to municipalities. For a low-developed technology country the result is as effective as guerrilla war. Recent wars and conicts experience conrms the trend of larger portion of civilian population injuries.

Psychological factor. Terrorism makes psychological stress on population. There-fore it’s necessary to provide support to population from the very beginning and use all capacity of mass media to calm them.

Sustainment. A sharply asymmetrically featured operation is for a permanent conict with obscure beginning or end. It is small battles partial victories in which does not represent total success. Prior to nal solution made, sustain keeping and control of relatively safe situation is a condition of consequent success.

Situation control exploiting contact. Long-range weapons, even the most ef-cient or precise, are unable to provide for sufcient control of the mobile and often well-hidden enemy. To humiliate the enemy, it is an imperative to locate, identify, restrict, detain, disarm or kill, as necessary.

Asymmetric conicts: Characteristic featuresThe wars will more often than so far feature with asymmetry in diverse forms

and at odd levels. Almost arbitrary combinations of participants (government or non-government), courses of action, tactics, forces and assets are imaginable. Asymmetry is

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nothing new, though. Such meetings happened many times in the past; i.e. Napoleon’s Russian campaign 1812 totally depleted his army even without any large-scale battle, as the Russian units were much undersized and under armed compared to the French ones. Asymmetry has taught also US lessons in recent history. In Vietnam, a superpower like the USA faced an enemy much weaker in every attribute except perhaps moral quality. However, the enemy as almost invisible monitoring every move of the US units, taking any opportunity for surprising attack often regardless of own casualties.

The forms of asymmetry may range from the typical guerrilla tactics, civil revolt through biological agents use and terrorist actions. Asymmetry dimensions comprise politics and political goals, technology, psychology and ethics, and – in military terms – tactics, operational art and military strategy. Feasible differentiation of asymmetries under consideration includes also the following factors:

l Limited or broad interests and goals of parties involved in the conict,l Conict duration (time factor in Vietnam foe example helped the North Vietnam

for US internal political reasons; in Desert Storm operation the coalition could not wait until Ramadan and bad weather period start as political collapse would then threaten); and

l Intensity (limited war unlike total war; existing volume of military assets; warfare type).

Very diverse may also be:l Own casualty rate acceptability, l Damage acceptability,l Conict escalation readiness, andl Vulnerability (populated centres, information structure).

Low readiness of developed communities, or governments, to accept own casual-ties (“Zero Casualty War”) goes far to abide considerable military or other disadvantage or damage. That phenomenon has come the more forward the lower is interest in the con-ict matter, as expected. That is to say: if vital or existence interests are concerned, risk and casualty readiness will grow. Comparably, perhaps more striking is the phenomenon of acceptability for enemy casualty, mainly enemy civilian population casualty. And this criterion should also “soften” the more escalated the conict would be.

Even in conicts labelled symmetric surely appear asymmetric elements in the manners of leadership, control and engagement of forces or assets, and vice versa.

Going on promoting the theory of asymmetry, asymmetry may divide then into positive asymmetry and negative asymmetry. Positive asymmetry could be characterized by certain advantages seen by the assessing person compared to the enemy.

Very simple example is a person denoted being terrorist by one side and liberty ghter by the other. The person is consequently considered a criminal on one hand side and at the same time a hero. Though, the assessment is completely independent from used assets or methods or course of particular action. Therefore, denitions of asymme-

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try and asymmetric threats need determination of elements that uniquely state the term of asymmetry.

Asymmetry, as already mentioned is nothing of a new phenomenon. History has witnessed asymmetric conicts. Since in military actions asymmetry answers enemy’s threats being of mostly asymmetric nature (character) regarding contemporary world order. Today, the possibility of nuclear, biological or chemical attack, information opera-tions and terrorism are considered potential asymmetric threats (risks).

Currently, asymmetry is characterized by that the forces of powerful and devel-oped countries deployed in foreign countries oppose enemy under comparison in signi-cance. They superior the enemy in weapon systems both amount and advanced level or killing power. Overwhelming military superiority does not mean for the intervening countries to face no armed enemy, though. Their enemy is conversely nowhere and eve-rywhere at the same time, avoiding direct, head-on-head crashes, refusing the principles of ght of the strong and rich, imposing own rules on them. The enemy power bears on “stealth” ability and hard identication, individual or geographic, rather than on estab-lishment strength or capacity. It is impossible to envisage who is the enemy or when, where, how and whom will attack.

Low intensity military operations characteristic with asymmetric elementsThe operations designated as military operations of heavily asymmetric character

may be determined as low intensity operations bearing the above mentioned distinctions and particulars. The military operations of low intensity follow the classication of FM 7-98 “Operations in a Low-Intensity Conict” into the following four operation catego-ries:

1) Revolt support and anti rebellion2) Anti terrorist3) Peace building, making, and keeping operations (peace support operations)4) Peace support operations in special (risky) situations.

Ad 1) The armed forces’ role consists in protection of acting government or by contrary in support of rebels (revolt). Armed revolt’s goal is to overthrow the legally acting government in the form of coup d’état by means of armed forces in an armed conict. The armed forces’ goal in the operations against the rebelling or revolting in the host country is support of the host country acting government to defeat the rebel groups or to foil rebel groups’ attempted turnover through military, paramilitary, politi-cal, economic, psychological or civil actions.

Any success in such operations depends on understanding their characteristics, used tactics and environment for executing actions. The rebel movement members are organised within political line framework and supported in the form of political, eco-nomic, social, military, psychological and secured operations. The military or paramili-tary rebel operations usually employ guerrilla tactics characteristic with both offensive actions at time and place chosen by the guerrillas (rebels) to inict losses or gain ground,

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and considerable asymmetry in quality and quantity of engaged forces and assets. Open actions of rebel movement are usually accompanied by strikes, demonstrations, propa-ganda, political discussions (negotiations) and diplomatic proceedings.

Ad 2) The armed forces’ antiterrorism effort goal consists in protection of key facilities and installations, units and individuals from terrorist attack threat. The anti-terrorist actions involve direct ghting terrorism and also terrorist countermeasures in diffusing and amending operation actions. The antiterrorist action plans development should contain action prior to, during and post terrorist incidents.

The antiterrorist operations need rst of all understanding the essence. The same apply to understanding countermeasures and assets that may decrease success of poten-tial terrorist act on infrastructure, facilities, persons or property, including the armed forces to ght.

A terrorism denition expressed by prominent military experts says that it is “ille-gal use of threat or force or violent actions against population or property to make or intimidate (threaten) constitutional governments, states and population in trying to attain the political, religious or ideological goals”.

The terrorist actions follow methods that include practices such as hostage cap-ture, hijacking, sabotage, attempts on constitutional personalities lives, making res, frauds, bomb attacks, air strikes or attacks at key facilities, get hold of particular facili-ties or installations, mass destruction attacks, and other rather than the war rules and principles. The victims of the attacks are often, beside rank-and le soldiers, innocent people, person or place symbols and political or military personalities.

Using terrorism as a method is unlimited in time at the conict early phases. It may occur at any level of the conict, in peace or in global war. The terrorism tactics are described being cunning, surprising, accompanying with fast, cool-headed violent actions.

Contemporary society dependence on computer networks has climbed so high that inevitably has created much larger range of potential targets vulnerable to terrorist misuse. The existence of networks provides services sensitive to fast collapse like com-puter system attacks – such as power failure or disabling data transmission systems. Situation like this requires higher intelligence quality, reliable information collection instruments, precise and fast analysis, and timely communication. It is obvious intel-ligence cannot be always ready to foresee and answer every case of the specic terrorist attacks of all types.

Antiterrorist operations have been and will be always, from all and any point of view and criteria operations with exceptionally sharp asymmetric characteristics.

Ad 3) The peace building, making and keeping operations (peace operations) enforce already established peace through diplomatic effort tools. The armed forces deployed in a peacekeeping operation supervise (monitor situation) and conduct armi-stice negotiations to bring the hostile parts to an agreement. The armed forces strictly

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follow the peace solution principles in their actions. The stated rules forbade the armed forces to use weapons except situations necessary for their self-defence.

The international effort at peace keeping dominates settlement of local, regional and international conicts of any scale or character. The decision making process on whether the peace keeping operation should or should not be carried out shall necessar-ily consider legal status, armed forces engagement options, missions for that or another country contributing to such an operation, political reasons (aspects) and conditions of conducting and controlling the operation. Those operations are usually carried out after discussed at the United Nations Organization resulting in mandate for questioned coun-tries and their armed forces allocated to the operation, distinctive asymmetry in which to the benet (positive asymmetry) of deployed forces is crucial for a successful opera-tion.

Ad 4) Peace support operations in special (risky) situations include special actions within disaster relief; antinarcotic operations; land and naval operations, as well as air operations. A signicant feature of all the operations is fast-mobilized effort directed to solution of a specic issue, usually of crisis nature. The operations control at national level follows the crisis management system measures, as determined. On numerous occasions the actions accomplish by way of atypical tools and in strange installations. They require extensive and sophisticated actions and building sufcient provisional communication routes in hostile environment. The operations may for the armed forces require certain limitations of engagement rules or on contrary engagement in emphatic violent actions.

Special peace support operations are featuring elements of all low-intensity opera-tion categories. Their scale ranges from deterrence operations, through power demon-stration operations to combat operations conductible under the conditions of hostilities or state of war. Those operations include actions such as civil-military or peace activity leading to crisis situations solutions often with political consequences, too. They com-prehend imminent or real armed conicts in progress of different duration and featuring usually heavily asymmetric strains.

ConclusionAmbivalence of the above mentioned conditions and of their affect of the opera-

tion development options results in conclusions of possible rises of more asymmetric conict (war) unnecessarily following the past experience. Asymmetry implies com-pletely different belligerents unlike approximately equal as expected. A regular army faces usually irregular force. Top technology versus simple and even primitive weap-ons and materiel. Modern computer aided operations face simple command. Complex joint military force engagement contra guerrilla warfare. Short wars to sustained exhaustive wars. Minimum casualties cross maximum casualties. Human values of one type counter another human values. Law versus tort or another law. Terrain and weather suitable for modern technology operations counter rough terrain and adverse time and period, etc.

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The asymmetry forms may range from typical guerrilla tactics (guerrilla groups) through civil revolt to e.g. biological agents use or various terrorist actions. Asymmetry dimensions include politics and political goals, technology, psychology and ethics, and from the military point of view also tactics, operation art and military strategy. Each bel-ligerent’s goals may be either limited or broad; the conict may vary in duration, low- or high-intensity etc. Acceptability of own injuries and damage, readiness for conict esca-lation, or even enemy vulnerability may be highly variable. Low readiness of developed communities, or governments, to accept own casualties goes so far they abide consider-able military or other disadvantage or damage. Risk and sacrice readiness positively correlate with the vital and living interests. Consideration for enemy civilian population “melts” as the conict escalates.

The amount of detailed description and explained operations with so far used cri-teria, considerations, aspects and visions show the fact that a characteristic feature in operations of all types is rather asymmetry and the term of asymmetric operation is confusing (the criterion is applicable to almost all operations unless the operation is clearly dened) as the enemy warfare and courses of action should be distinguishing or better non-distinguishing criterion to name the operation rather than the character of actions in the operation. It is asymmetry that is common phenomenon of all opera-tions and a condition of success or failure in the operation! Skilfully utilised natural or newly made asymmetry shall remain a decisive element of military and sometimes polit-ical art. Effort concentration, direction of attack choice, force dispersion and regrouping, all of that contribute to exploitation of asymmetry in favour of accomplished own objec-tives even under relatively symmetric power of the belligerents.

References[1] Doktrína AČR, Praha, červen 2001[2] Polní řád pozemních sil USA, FM-105, USA 1998[3] Operace nízké intenzity, FM-7-98, USA 1992[4] Gray Colin S. Thinking Asymmetrically in Times of Terror, Parameters, US Army War College Quar-

terly-Spring 2002[5] Krejčí J. Ozbrojené síly, schopnosti a technologie v 21. století, překlad, ÚSS, Brno 2001, ÚSS/2001-

S-2-011[6] Pikner, I. Možný a pravděpodobný protivník, jeho charakter a způsoby vedení boje, dílčí studie, ÚSS,

Brno 2000, ÚSS/2000-S-2-006[7] Kubeša M., Krásný A. Realizace operačních požadavků kladených na vojska, dílčí studie, ÚSS, Brno

2001, ÚSS/2001-S-2-012[8] Rýznar, B. Rozvoj schopností AČR pro vedení nebojových operací, dílčí studie, ÚSS, Brno 2002, ÚSS/

2001-S-2-018[9] Pawlowski J. Vybrané problémy bezpečnosti Polské republiky v kontextu války s terorismem (asymet-

rické hrozby), Obrana a strategie č. 1, ÚSS Brno 2002

Remark1 The US classication of “asymmetric operations” comprises antiguerilla, antirebel, antiterroristic, peace-

forcing, peacemaking and peacekeeping operations while more or less assymetric elements feature in every operation mentioned in Figure 1 showing the elementary classication of military operations in the theory of Czech Army engagement.

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