U.S. officials have highlighted less obvious but important elements of warfare in recent conflicts.
Experts estimate that winning these hidden battles is essential to victory in modern war.
In particular, cyber, space and electromagnetic warfare can be decisive.
In the first hours of Operation Epic Fury, the beginning of the attacks on Iran, the United States targeted Iranian ordnance with firepower that, while not as visible as a missile, is devastating in modern warfare.
The “first movers” were US space and cyber forces, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said on Monday. They disrupted, weakened and blinded Iran, thereby creating the conditions for massive follow-up strikes.
Operation Absolute Resolve against Venezuela earlier this year involved similar tactics. As the special forces helicopters approached the coast, “the United States began combining various effects from SPACECOM, CYBERCOM and other members of the interagency cooperation to create a corridor,” the senior general said afterward.
U.S. Space Command and Cyber Command also provided critical support in Operation Midnight Hammer, in which the U.S. attacked Iranian nuclear facilities last summer. All three operations were directed against well-armed nation-states, not terrorist groups or insurgents.
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In each of these operations, non-kinetic effects – those capabilities that go beyond physically shooting and destroying a target – played an important role. Non-kinetic cyber, space and electronic warfare are ways that militaries can jam signals, hack networks or take out satellites to blind or confuse an enemy without blowing something up.
War in Iran: This is how important electromagnetic warfare is
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The electromagnetic spectrum – the entire range of all types of light energy, from low-energy radio waves to high-energy gamma rays – is a particularly important battlespace.
Two summers ago, the commander of the US Air Force’s 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing spoke about the importance of electronic warfare and the electromagnetic spectrum. He said: “The spectrum is a bad place to be second and if we lose on the spectrum or are unable to act on the spectrum, the entire force will lose and we will lose very quickly.”
The war with Iran and Operation Epic Fury underscore that the ability to fight effectively in these hidden battles is critical.
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“As we look at warfare in the 21st century, the use, exploitation and denial of the electromagnetic spectrum is absolutely fundamental to victory,” Houston Cantwell, a retired US Air Force brigadier general and expert at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told BUSINESS INSIDER (BI). “In the 20th century it was important. In the 21st century it is essential,” he added.
Many US options in cyber and space
Modern warfare in the electromagnetic spectrum took shape during World War II, when radar, communications intelligence, and jammers became valuable tools. The technology and speed have advanced dramatically in the 80 years since, but the core logic – detecting, jamming, deceiving and protecting the use of the spectrum – still forms the basis of military operations today.
“Freedom of action in the electromagnetic spectrum,” the ministry said in its October 2020 strategy, “is a necessary prerequisite for the successful conduct of operations in all areas.”
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The US and Israel have targeted Iran’s air defenses to clear the way for air operations, potentially blinding them by jamming or disabling the radars they rely on. They may also have disrupted communications between command centers, radars, air bases and fighter jets through jamming, cyber attacks and other non-kinetic tools. Details are unclear, but the U.S. has numerous options.
Maintaining dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum is as important as denying its use by the enemy, Cantwell said, particularly for weapons that rely on laser, GPS or satellite navigation. If the spectrum is denied, these precision weapons could “absolutely” fail.
Electronic Warfare in the Ukraine War
By observing the war in Ukraine, the United States has learned a lot about how its precision weapons – such as the HIMARS-launched Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems and air-dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions – fare against electronic jamming. Kiev forces have previously observed significant drops in weapons accuracy due to Russia’s electronic warfare capabilities.
The battlefield in Ukraine is dominated by elements of electronic warfare as both sides jam communications, drones, weapons and other systems.
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Analysts said the war demonstrated the far-reaching impact these tactics can have. Over the past four years, U.S. military officials have often spoken about the importance of mastering the electromagnetic spectrum in future conflicts, while acknowledging that they expect difficulties in doing so – particularly against a peer adversary such as Russia or China.
Combat in cyberspace is an important related element that remains largely hidden in battle but is of great importance. Although the exact use of cyber warfare in recent U.S. battles has not been publicly disclosed, its potential impact is significant.
“Cyber as an enabler” for broader operations
Cyber warfare is a very useful tool in the disruption phase of an operation, but it is also crucial for “supporting reconnaissance and broader intelligence efforts to prepare for the operation and plan its subsequent phases,” as Louise Marie Hurel, a cybersecurity expert at the Royal United Services Institute, explained to BI.
The approach to cyber operations varies in recent campaigns, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear, Hurel emphasizes. Cyberspace was once viewed as critical in its own right, but today there is a growing understanding that “cyber is more useful as an enabler and force multiplier within broader operations.”
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Invisible non-kinetic effects, from cyber to electronic warfare, capable of confusing or weakening the enemy at crucial moments of battle, can pave the way for kinetic strikes. At the same time, protecting reliable access to the electromagnetic spectrum in defense ensures that friendly forces can communicate and operate while denying the enemy the chance to disrupt.
These are capabilities that militaries cannot do without when conducting operations.
A military “may not be able to win the war through spectrum dominance alone,” said Thomas Withington, also an electronic warfare and air defense expert at the Royal United Services Institute. “But if you lose the battle on the spectrum, you won’t win the war.”
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