The methods of war change every day as their increased efficiency and dominant character are a key to the creation of the strategy and struggling against near peer competitors who might pose a threat to the states security. For this reason, there is a need for a comprehensive analysis of hypothetical enemies actions to introduce appropriate responses and organize maneuvers to eliminate the existing threat.
Under these conditions, fire support planning acquires the top priority as the tool to minimize enemies advantage and win. It can be determined as a prolonged process of analyzing, allocating, and planning fire support to ensure that it is integrated with the maneuver forces and contributes to the increase in the combat power (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2016). The application of FS support planning to various situations can help to find an appropriate solution.
For instance, the problematic relations with Russia and its increased military power promoted the necessity to analyze the state of the U.S. Army. In the course of wargame, the board came to the conclusion that the towed artillery that was used by the military forces was unable to resist existing threats because of its vulnerabilities in range, mobility, and responsiveness (Kane, 2017). It means that a solution to the problem is demanded. Because of the impossibility of the complete replacement of this kind of lethal weapon and the high cost of this process, FS support planning becomes a key to the organization of the efficient maneuver and resisting hypothetical enemies who are equipped with long-range artillery and other outstanding weapons.
First of all, the problem of poor survivability and range can be solved by applying methods of FS planning. The given practice presupposes the integration of all maneuver forces with the primary aim to ensure the better coordination between troops and minimize the risk of being attacked (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2016). For this reason, towed artillery as one of the basic elements of the modern U.S. army should be supported with other fire support teams to ensure responsive and effective reaction to all alterations at the battlefield (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2014). Additionally, the coordinated use of towed artillery, indirect fires, air, and missile defense through the efficient targeting process can help to eliminate enemies and protect the most vulnerable areas from direct strikes.
At the same time, FS planning can help to reduce capability gaps and increase efficiency levels. The wargames mentioned above revealed the low range of towed artillery and considered it one of the major disadvantages of troops. Thus, the given capability gap can be eliminated by the improved integration with other divisions and maneuver forces to ensure that the towed artillery will be safely delivered to the needed place and will be able to return to protected areas not being detected or attacked by the enemy forces (Headquarters, Department of the Army, 2016). Integrating their efforts, different fire teams can focus on various areas depending on their range to prevent the emergence of a real threat to any of divisions.
Altogether, FS planning is an efficient practice aimed at the improved cooperation and coordination between all fire teams. Integration of their efforts can help to eliminate existing capability gaps by focusing on the most problematic areas and finding a needed solution to them. The use of the appropriate maneuver force and utilization of its most powerful aspects become the integral elements of the modern wargame or a strategy that is needed to acquire the competitive advantage and minimize a threat.
References
Headquarters, Department of the Army. (2014). Field artillery operations and fire support (Field Manual No. 3-09). Web.
Headquarters, Department of the Army. (2016). Fire support for the brigade combat team (Army Techniques Publication No. 3-09.42). Web.
Kane, K. (2017). Adapting towed artillery today to meet a near peer competitor tomorrow. Small Wars Journal. Web.