Urban Combined Arms

Urban Combined Arms Defense Agenda Why Defend Site Selection Weapons Employment Combined Arms Employment Night Operations Summary Why Defend? Night A pause between Offensive Ops Economy of Force Deny enemy objectives Hold key terrain Control Avenues of Approach Assess the Situation- USMC Mission Enemy Terrain and Weather Troops Available Time Space Logistics Ensure everyone knows the basis for the assessment Assess the Situation- US Army Mission Enemy Terrain and Weather Troops Available Time Civilians Urban Environment Factors Objective Things that troops cannot significantly change Largely beyond our control Subjective: Factors that soldiers can affect/change. Objective Factors Type of Structures Avenues of Approach Enemy (SALUTE) Fields of Fire Dead Space Individual Discipline Subjective Factors Fighting Positions orientation, location Obstacles Fires Egress Route Communications Individual Discipline Essential Elements of the Urban Defense Put enemy in engagement area(s) that: Quicken his destruction Optimize our use of terrain and firepower. Composed of elements of Counterattack and ambush Dedicated strongpointing Urban Strongpointing Combining and maximizing the cover and concealment effects of available terrain and fields of fire. Hugging Positioning of troops in so near a proximity to the opposing force that indirect fires, CAS, and even machine gun/anti-armor direct fires are rendered ineffective due to the danger of fratricide. Defense Against Hugging Emplace wire obstacles Cover with machine gun fire Use mines and booby traps Canalize enemy into direct fields of fire or preplanned indirect fires Urban Combined Arms Defense Planning DEFENSE = STRENGTH Site selection Weaponeering Small Unit Leadership / Discipline 360 Degree Awareness Ambush Mentality Site Selection Multi-story buildings “high ground” Good visibility Thicker walls (normally) Structures that provide rapid egress routes Priority goes to Fields of Fire Structures (1 of 4) 7.62 round will penetrate: 2 inches of reinforced (American) concrete 10 inches of cinder block Only 300 rounds are required to penetrate a standard (American) 2-foot thick concrete wall Note: M240B fires at up to 900 rounds per minute Structures (2 of 4) Look for (2+feet) thick walls 80-90 percent of the walls in the world are rebar reinforced Chicken wire/fencing can block RPGs and hand grenades Concrete and glass mixture used in 3rd world countries to prevent entry Structures (3 of 4) Strongpoint a structure that has a rapid egress route readily available usually to secondary defensive positions. Do not strongpoint in a structure that is easily isolated by enemy forces regardless of how impenetrable it seems. Structures (4 of 4) Using Terrain in the defense Principles of Fire Control (1 of 2) Interior location depends on weapons available avenues of approach/dead space Mass the effects of fire. Destroy greatest threat first. Avoid target overkill. Employ the best weapon for the target. Principles of Fire Control (2 of 2) Minimize friendly exposure. Fire from flank, dispersed sites Prevent fratricide Key is situational awareness Plan for limited visibility NVDs, IR devices etc. Develop contingencies for diminished capabilities Build in redundancy Plan on casualties Weaponeering Integrate best weapon with best terrain / environment Direct fire Anti-Armor Indirect Fire Weapons Scout Snipers CAS Armor and Mech Machine Guns Control avenues of approach Based on visibility reinforce w/sandbags, rubble Planned kill zones / Engagement Areas Priority of engagement Top down fires Alternate/Supplementary firing positions Company Snipers Put them up high (visibility) Skilled observers Enhanced optics Binos, thermals, scope Engage high priority targets Rotate frequently to avoid Fatigue Boredom tunnel-vision Anti-Armor Room must handle backblast Leave doors/windows open Eliminate flammable objects Arming distance vs. range Obstacles in flight path Interfere with TOW guidance Top down attack is best Armored Vehicles Reaction forces when attacked Big psychological effect Excellent for counter-attack Powerful thermals/ com platform Tuck them into buildings limit signature and reduce effect of anti-armor rounds Big factor: spall effect Close Air Support Requires effective planning coordination and com platform Fixed wing limited effectiveness ROE and target ID limits options Rotary Wing limited by threat Weapons Systems reduced by buildings All Army CAS (helos) can ID Image Intensifiers Use Ambient Light Stars, moon, distant lights. Can use IR illuminators For complete darkness Can “beacon” own position Cannot see through smoke Brighten otherwise dark image Thermal Imagers Detect very slight temperature differences Highlights all heat sources Used in weapons sights to ID vehicles at long range High resolution Through smoke and fog Will not penetrate glass MG/Anti-Armor Teams Machine Gun Team: Gunner and A/Gunner (A/G) A/G well versed in EA details A/G scans for targets Talks gunner on target Anti-Armor Team: Both gunner, A/G have devices High priority targets only Operating at Night Communications must: Tie in all positions Rely mostly on radios/wire Control noise and light Sleep plan No-one alone (buddy system) Minimize physical gaps Plan twilight resupply Situational Awareness Noise and light discipline Location of all adjacent positions Status of friendly patrols Fire criteria Location of LP/OP Secondary firing positions Egress routes Summary Urban defense factors Drive effectiveness Based on strongpointing Defenders must plan: Site selection Weaponeering Defenders must execute Exploitive counterattacks Night operations INTRODUCTION: The Urban Defense is a position of great strength when properly used. The haze of rapid and chaotic troop movements through a built up area is brought into focus when a unit assumes a defensive posture. The Urban Defense enables a unit to conduct casualty / EPW evacuation, re-supply, and reorganization through heightened situational awareness and use of advantageous terrain and structures. Concurrently, the Urban Defense allows a unit to regroup, reassess the situation, and re-attack. Important lessons can be drawn from the defeat of the German Sixth Army by the determined defense of the Soviets during the Battle of Stalingrad. “The active defense was essentially composed of infantry strongpoints or centers of resistance. But the key to the Soviet active defense was the counterattack by storm groups. Given the nature of the urban terrain and the Soviet lack of Mobile Reserves, immediate counterattacks, at the lowest level possible, were decisive in order to retain key buildings or road junctions” -from Vasili I Chuikov, The Battle for Stalingrad, trans. Harold Silver (New York: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, 1964). There are several reasons soldiers may find themselves in the defense when fighting in the urban environment. These include: 1. Night (A pause between offensive operations). 2. Economy of Force 3. Deny Enemy Objectives 4. Hold Key Terrain 5. Control Avenues of Approach The first and most important consideration when setting up an urban defense is for the Leadership to assess the situation immediately with METT-TSL: 1. Mission 2. Enemy 3. Terrain and Weather 4. Troops and Fire Support Available 5. Time 6. Space 7. Logistics Ensure that everyone knows the basis for your assessment and if the mission is to occupy an urban defense, the orders are clearly disseminated so that every Marine is familiar with the plan. This is not always the case, however, and the Marine must be able to quickly gain an estimate of the situation that will allow the unit to properly orient itself for maximum effectiveness There are two factors soldiers must deal with in preparing for the urban defense. 1. Objective factors are ones that soldiers cannot significantly change. 2. Subjective factors are beyond our control. For example: 1. The Urban Defense is positioned specifically to place the enemy into an engagement area (or series of engagement areas) that quickens his destruction through the intelligent use of terrain and firepower while offering the unit time to re-arm, re-fit, and reorganize. It is fundamentally comprised of elements of both the counterattack and the ambush actions. 2. Proper employment of the Urban Defense should be considered the dedicated urban strongpointing of a structure/ several structures in order to place the enemy into the combined arms dilemma. Urban strongpointing is the art of combining and maximizing the cover and concealment effects of available terrain and fields of fire. The intent is to put the enemy into a dilemma by disrupting his ability to attack. The first goal of the defender is to locate his defensive position. A close analysis of the terrain is important in successfully achieving this goal. 1. “Hugging” is a tactic that has been employed with great success in every combat environment where indirect or overwhelming direct fires are factors. It involves the positioning of troops in so near a proximity to the opposing force that indirect artillery fires, coordinated close air support, and even machine gun /anti-armor direct fires are rendered ineffective due to the danger of fratricide. We can expect to encounter hugging tactics every time we face an enemy who is aware of our capabilities. “The most common response by the Chechens to the increasingly powerful Russian indirect and aerial firepower was hugging the Russian unit. If the hugging tactics caused the Russians to cease artillery and air fires, it became a man-to-man fight and the Chechens were equipped to win it. If they didn’t cease the supporting fires, the Russian units suffered just as much as the Chechen fighters did, sometimes even more, and the morale effect was much worse on the Russians.” - From “Grozny: Lessons Learned by the Russians, 1-27 Infantry, the Wolfhounds.” 1. To counter the hugging tactic, leaders should site the defense with avenues of approach and fields of fire that (as much as possible) prevent the enemy from getting too close. Wire obstacles, used in conjunction with machine gun fires, are effective. Mines and booby traps are also effective in slowing enemy advance. The goal of such obstacle plans should always be to canalize the enemy into direct fields of fires or preplanned indirect fires. Failing to prepare for hugging will result in significantly diminished effectiveness of the combined arms defense during MOUT. The key elements in planning for the urban combined arms defense are: 1. Site selection 2. Weaponeering 3. Small unit leadership / discipline. 4. 360 degree spherical awarness 5. Ambush mentality The types of structures available for the defense are variable. Soldiers should seek the following: 1. Multi-story buildings. Much as high ground in other combat environments is beneficial, so too are the tall buildings that afford the individual both excellent visibility and top-down engagement potential. 2. Further, multi-story buildings usually offer better protection and have thicker (reinforced) walls than single story buildings. 3. Additionally, look for multi-story buildings and structures that provide rapid egress routes. 4. Selection priority goes to fields of fire. 1. The benefit of reinforced concrete is obvious in the following example(a) A single round of 7.62mm rounds has the ability to penetrate 2 inches of concrete and 10 inches of cinder block (100m range). 2. A standard (2 foot thick) reinforced concrete wall requires some 300 rounds in order to penetrate the wall (100m range). 1. Look for walls that are more than 2-feet thick. Most of the walls in the world are rebar reinforced. And remember that you can cover openings with chicken wire and fencing in order to block RPGs and hand grenades without keeping you from firing out. 2. Concrete and glass mixture is used in many 3rd world countries to prevent entry. 1. Structures positioned so that a rapid egress route (usually to secondary defensive positions) is readily available. a. In other words, do not position the urban strongpoint in a structure that could be easily isolated by enemy forces, regardless of how thick its walls may be and how impenetrable it seems. 2. Keep in mind; no building is invulnerable to a dedicated and well trained breaching, assaulting, and clearing force. See Word Document See Word Document See Word Document See Word Document 1. Scout snipers should be placed on high ground to engage high payoff and high priority targets. They are skilled observers and can provide excellent intelligence to a commander. 2. They use their enhanced optics to develop high value intelligence. 3. They only engage high value targets. 4. To maintain their effectiveness, rotate them frequently to overcome fatigue, boredom and avoid development of tunnel vision. See Word Document Tanks, BFVs and even HMMVWs, M113s and ACEs can be used as react forces when positions come under fire. The psychological effect of tanks and other fast movers can be a key factor. The fluid nature of the urban defense is enhanced considerably when vehicles are used as react / counterattack forces. This is also an option that will allow the force to rapidly transition from a defensive to an offensive posture. 1. CAS requires effective planning and coordination in the urban environment. 2. Ensure your communications equipment is in proper working order. 3. The difficulties encountered in targeting and ROE will limit the effectiveness of fixed wing assets. 4. Due to the structure and makeup of the environment, the ECR of various weapon systems will be greatly reduced. 5. Use of rotary wing aircraft will be dependent on the anti-air threat. 6. The IR/Thermal beacon can be used to ID FO/FACs by all USMC aircraft and AC-130. 1. Image Intensifiers: Standard NVGs (ex: ANPVS-7) so called due to the fact that they make use of all available ambient light (stars, distant light sources, lunar illumination, horizon aura, etc.) and effectively present a bright enough image/view so that many objects that were invisible in the darkness can now be seen. 2. These devices almost always come with an infrared (IR) illuminator that allows for use in completely dark (no ambient light) situations. The IR light will be like a “beacon” to expose your position if the enemy has NVG capability. 3. These devices will not see through smoke or haze. You will still have trouble seeing a well-camouflaged enemy with the NVG because the device simply “brightens” and otherwise dark image. See Word Document See Word Document See Word Document Situational awareness is essential when executing an urban defense. Troops must be intimately familiar with and well briefed on the following aspects of the urban defense: 1. Noise and light discipline. 2. Location of all adjacent positions. 3. Status of “friendly” patrols. 4. Fire criteria. 5. Location of SP/LP/Ops. 6. Secondary firing positions. 7. Egress route See Word Document