Precision Paradox and Myths of Precision Strike in Modern Armed Conflict

Precision Paradox and Myths of Precision Strike in Modern Armed Conflict is by Dr. Amos C. Fox, Managing Editor of Small Wars Journal, and is featured in the Royal United Services (RUSI) Journal. VOLUME 169 ISSUE 1/2

The RUSI Journal is a leading journal on defence and security. First published in 1857, it brings together scholars, decision-makers and practitioners in a unique forum that combines academic rigour with policy relevance.

Abstract:

Precision strike has assumed an outsized role in modern warfare. In the First Drone Age, drone-based precision strike promises to deliver accurate, first-time hits. Some assert that drone-based precision strike and precision strike-based strategies appear to offer a more civilised and antiseptic method of waging war. Amos C Fox argues that the Precision Paradox is a cautionary heuristic to illustrate the potential shortcomings of precision strategies, thereby allowing decision-makers to incorporate a modicum of realism into their thinking. The Precision Paradox also helps to illustrate the need to return to military thought rooted in realism and reason, instead of military thought based on linear, best-case scenario suppositions.