We Crowd-Sourced Your Thoughts on the Challenges of Urban Warfare. Here’s What You Said. – Modern War Institute Staff
The world is urbanizing, and doing so quickly. By 2030, 60 percent of the global population will live in cities. At the same time, the US military remains committed to maintaining the capability to conduct an immensely wide range of operations—from humanitarian assistance and noncombatant evacuation to security force assistance and high-intensity conflict. With these two facts taken together, it’s not hard to see why Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley recently declared, “In the future, I can say with very high degrees of confidence, the American Army is probably going to be fighting in urban areas.”
But many questions remain. Is it, in fact, a given, that US forces will find themselves fighting in dense urban terrain? Are current tactics, techniques, and procedures already sufficient to fight and win on city streets? Does technological innovation hold the key to solving military problems in urban areas? If so, what technologies will dominate?
That’s why we recently asked for your thoughts on the unique challenges posed by cities. And you responded by highlighting a range of issues any military force that seeks to prepare itself for the future urban battlefield must take into account.
Take a look at a sampling of responses below. And let us know on Twitter if you think there’s something we’ve missed! ...