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Suicide attacks, ambushes, hostage-taking, improvised explosive devices, piracy and
guerrilla warfare, are all characteristics of modern insurgencies. Also known as fourth
generation conflicts, these wars not only occurred in Afghanistan, Mali, Iraq, Libya, but
also in the former Yugoslavia and in Algeria, which was one of the French Army's first
modern testing grounds.
To confront these particular types of operations, regular armies must develop
new ways of operating that are effective enough to cause opponent losses, while
remaining proportional and not effecting the civilian population, among whom battle
takes place. Under these conditions, there is a place for artillery - despite its reputation
of being a weapon of brutality par excellence.
One telling statistic from Afghanistan: 80 % of all enemy losses were caused
by indirect fire (close air support, attack helicopters and artillery) and the artillery itself
was responsible for almost half of the insurgent dead and wounded in the French area
of operations. Yet, the gunners only represented 7 % of the deployed French force! In
terms of cost-effectiveness, these figures speak for themselves.
Drawing on dozens of operational vignettes, the book demonstrates that a
counter insurgency can be won using innovative tactics; such as faints, rouses and
deception along with more traditional methods like destruction, harassment and isolation.
Although often underutilized in the former, the Artillery proved itself to be ruthlessly
effective when employed in an asymmetric manner.
