Considerations on the Evolution of War

[JASmith]

...my first lecture request is to paint a picture of what the battalion as a fire-system looks like in the full scale war. What assumptions can we make about:

1. Organic sensors and surveillance for directing maneuver and fire?
   
2. What heavy weapons are available and how close to troops will they be used.
   
3. Finally, what individual weapons are available, and when would they be used?
   

Later, we can morph this picture into what it should look like in a 4th Generation conflict along with a discussion of how logistical tails might need to be re-defined to assure availability of appropriate weapons and ammunition.

We seem to have gotten bogged down in the morass of caliber-specific arguments and have lost sight of the basic question.

Let's reset with a summary of the Gen III capable assets as listed above.

Then let's refine our mental pictures of what small-unit operations in Gen IV our troops would likely see. We already know differences exist but let's see of we can spell them out. One of the specific questions to be explored is whether these troops will look like Spec Ops forces with significant latitude in weapons drawn for missions or more like line troops with limited training and little or no options for weapons beyond standard issue.

Last for this thread anyway, would be a qualitative description of what that small unit needs if it is built on the Spec Ops model or one the line unit model.

Only after fleshing these questions out can we embark on meaningful discussions of calibers, cartridges, and so on.