Post by Admin on Dec 8, 2019 17:55:35 GMT
How do the military attack targets?
There’s one principle called the ‘kill chain ’, and especially important for it is the F2T2EA (Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, Assess) cycle.
Find: Identify a target. Find a target within surveillance or reconnaissance data or via intelligence means.
Fix: Fix the target's location. Obtain specific coordinates for the target either from existing data or by collecting additional data.
Track: Monitor the target's movement. Keep track of the target until either a decision is made not to engage the target or the target is successfully engaged.
Target: Select an appropriate weapon or asset to use on the target to create desired effects. Apply command and control capabilities to assess the value of the target and the availability of appropriate weapons to engage it.
Engage: Apply the weapon to the target.
Assess: Evaluate effects of the attack, including any intelligence gathered at the location.
This is an integrated, end-to-end process described as a "chain" because an interruption at any stage can interrupt the entire process.
The first links in the chain (Find, Fix, Track, Target) happen ‘in the backstage’, that is, are more or less hidden from sight.
Intelligence guys monitor an interest area until the moment they pick a potential target for military attack (Find, Fix). There are several assets for this part, including surveillance drones, eavesdropping communications, etc.
The information is then sent up the military chain of command which then decides whether or not to attack the target, and which assets at hand are best suited to it (Track, Target), taking into account several factors that include (but are not limited to):
LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict). Especial attention is given to the 4 Basic Principles[2]of Distinction, Proportionality, Military Necessity and Unnecessary Suffering. It was based on the Principle of Proportionality that President Trump decided to cancel an impending attack on Iran[3]
Expected enemy defenses. In the case of air strikes, special attention is given to IADS, that includes SAM (including the likes of the Russian S-300 and S-400 on Syria), AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery aka flak), aircraft and the sensors (especialy radars) that direct them. More on these later
Expected backlash. Too fierce an attack may result in escalation, so the ‘correct’ level of force is selected. This means that, in many occasions, a small scale atack will be chosen over a large scale one
Target peculiarities. These include how much the target is hardened, target size, ingress and egress routes… These peculiarities alone may be enough to rule out attack options other than manned aircraft (the topic of this question)
Once these factors are sorted out, and the selected attack platforms are manned aircraft as vectors and PGM as effectors, the effort goes through another step (Engage, Assess).
During the final part of the kill chain, attack aircraft do their ‘mini kill chain’ all over again to attack the target.
There’s one principle called the ‘kill chain ’, and especially important for it is the F2T2EA (Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, Assess) cycle.
Find: Identify a target. Find a target within surveillance or reconnaissance data or via intelligence means.
Fix: Fix the target's location. Obtain specific coordinates for the target either from existing data or by collecting additional data.
Track: Monitor the target's movement. Keep track of the target until either a decision is made not to engage the target or the target is successfully engaged.
Target: Select an appropriate weapon or asset to use on the target to create desired effects. Apply command and control capabilities to assess the value of the target and the availability of appropriate weapons to engage it.
Engage: Apply the weapon to the target.
Assess: Evaluate effects of the attack, including any intelligence gathered at the location.
This is an integrated, end-to-end process described as a "chain" because an interruption at any stage can interrupt the entire process.
The first links in the chain (Find, Fix, Track, Target) happen ‘in the backstage’, that is, are more or less hidden from sight.
Intelligence guys monitor an interest area until the moment they pick a potential target for military attack (Find, Fix). There are several assets for this part, including surveillance drones, eavesdropping communications, etc.
The information is then sent up the military chain of command which then decides whether or not to attack the target, and which assets at hand are best suited to it (Track, Target), taking into account several factors that include (but are not limited to):
LOAC (Law of Armed Conflict). Especial attention is given to the 4 Basic Principles[2]of Distinction, Proportionality, Military Necessity and Unnecessary Suffering. It was based on the Principle of Proportionality that President Trump decided to cancel an impending attack on Iran[3]
Expected enemy defenses. In the case of air strikes, special attention is given to IADS, that includes SAM (including the likes of the Russian S-300 and S-400 on Syria), AAA (Anti-Aircraft Artillery aka flak), aircraft and the sensors (especialy radars) that direct them. More on these later
Expected backlash. Too fierce an attack may result in escalation, so the ‘correct’ level of force is selected. This means that, in many occasions, a small scale atack will be chosen over a large scale one
Target peculiarities. These include how much the target is hardened, target size, ingress and egress routes… These peculiarities alone may be enough to rule out attack options other than manned aircraft (the topic of this question)
Once these factors are sorted out, and the selected attack platforms are manned aircraft as vectors and PGM as effectors, the effort goes through another step (Engage, Assess).
During the final part of the kill chain, attack aircraft do their ‘mini kill chain’ all over again to attack the target.
