Shifting gears: for the military, a future of 'hybrid' wars.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 September 2008
• Author: Rusling, Matthew
• Published date: 01 September 2008
• Author: Rusling, Matthew

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Pentagon planners often are criticized for being locked in perpetual preparation for the last war.

At the Defense Department, there is much pressure to figure out what's next after Iraq and Afghanistan. Will it be another counterinsurgency campaign? Or a conventional war against a modern industrialized nation?

The future, according to military strategists and scholars, is likely to be somewhere in between. Opponents may not fall into the predictable categories of low-tech "irregular" combatants or technologically advanced military powers. A consensus is emerging that U.S. forces should prepare for "hybrid" wars where they may face unconventional fighters or insurgents, who are likely to be equipped with modern weapons and information technology.

"Typically when you think of insurgents or non-regulated combatants, they will primarily be armed with small arms--explosives, rocket-propelled grenades, rifles, machine guns." said Army Maj. Gen. David A. Fastabend, director of strategy, plans and policy.

"In a hybrid threat, your adversaries might also be armed with some high end weapons systems," he said in an interview.

A militia such as Lebanon's Hezbollah is an oft-cited example of the type of enemy the United States will confront in the coming decades. Hezbollah is a paramilitary political organization but has access to the same advanced weapons that are typically acquired by conventional armies. This could include anti-armor missiles, sophisticated air...