Urban Warfare - The Main Characteristics
The advancement of technology has brought a lot of benefits to humanity.
At the same time there are a lot of negative aspects associated with development.
We have built many sophisticated cities that provide excellent living conditions, but all their advantages can actually provide for bloody urban warfare.
This type of fighting emerged during the French Revolution and has been heavily used since then.
Some of the most famous urban battles such as the ones for Stalingrad and Berlin occurred during the Second World War.
On one hand, urban warfare is much more difficult than the standard one primarily because of the specifics of the terrain.
The three dimensional buildings, the narrow streets and the underground and above ground levels make it more difficult for any classic tactics to be applied.
Also, the inevitable involvement of civilians makes the planning much more specific.
The military forces can never know whether they are facing troops disguised as citizens or innocent people trying to defend their homes.
On the other hand, this type of fighting provides for the use of extremely effective unconventional tactics.
All the specifics of a city can be used for logistics and for the deployment of troops.
The sewage canals and the subway tunnels often serve as safe pathways for the movement of armed forces as well as for the organization of ambushes.
The tall buildings allow for the perfect positioning of sniper fighters.
The specifics of the streets can be also used effectively.
The planting of booby tracks is extremely common.
Close-quarter battles can be led in narrow allies as well as in buildings.
Urban warfare is still widely used in many armed conflicts around the world.
One of the latest examples of the effective use of these strategies and tactics is the Battle of Grozny during the Chechen War that took place in 1994 and 1995.
At the same time there are a lot of negative aspects associated with development.
We have built many sophisticated cities that provide excellent living conditions, but all their advantages can actually provide for bloody urban warfare.
This type of fighting emerged during the French Revolution and has been heavily used since then.
Some of the most famous urban battles such as the ones for Stalingrad and Berlin occurred during the Second World War.
On one hand, urban warfare is much more difficult than the standard one primarily because of the specifics of the terrain.
The three dimensional buildings, the narrow streets and the underground and above ground levels make it more difficult for any classic tactics to be applied.
Also, the inevitable involvement of civilians makes the planning much more specific.
The military forces can never know whether they are facing troops disguised as citizens or innocent people trying to defend their homes.
On the other hand, this type of fighting provides for the use of extremely effective unconventional tactics.
All the specifics of a city can be used for logistics and for the deployment of troops.
The sewage canals and the subway tunnels often serve as safe pathways for the movement of armed forces as well as for the organization of ambushes.
The tall buildings allow for the perfect positioning of sniper fighters.
The specifics of the streets can be also used effectively.
The planting of booby tracks is extremely common.
Close-quarter battles can be led in narrow allies as well as in buildings.
Urban warfare is still widely used in many armed conflicts around the world.
One of the latest examples of the effective use of these strategies and tactics is the Battle of Grozny during the Chechen War that took place in 1994 and 1995.
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