Evolution of the Navy's operational employment.

Operational skill is a key component of the art of naval warfare. Its major tasks include analysis and summarization of experience in the operational use of naval forces, forecasting the character of naval warfare, and on this basis, elaboration and development of new forms of operational employment of forces and troops. Up until now the theory and practice of operational skill in the Navy has been concerned with the following principal forms of the employment of troops and forces: in peacetime, combat service and alert duty; in wartime, fleet operations (operations by combined arms flotillas), naval operation, naval battle, combat action, and systematic combat action. Today this list requires clarification.

The evolution of threats to Russia's military security and national interests in the World Ocean at present has a major impact on the development of forms of employing naval forces and troops. Therefore, the Maritime Doctrine of the Russian Federation for the Period until 2020 clarifies, among other things, the functions of the Navy, adding a number of new tasks to the Navy's traditional tasks, such as, e.g., ensuring military security in maritime sectors and conducting combat action on theaters of naval operations.

Furthermore, the Navy's growing role and importance in implementing priority lines of state policy in the naval sphere brought about an expansion in the scope of tasks addressed by naval forces and troops in peacetime and in the period of threat preceding outbreak of war, which for its part could not but reflect on the organization of the employment of forces and troops.

In peacetime and the period of threat preceding outbreak of war, the Navy has the following principal tasks: participation as part of strategic nuclear forces in nuclear deterrence; ensuring non-nuclear deterrence against the threat or use of military force in maritime sectors (in certain areas, also in continental sectors); detection, early warning, and prevention of military threats; participation in actions to revolve armed conflicts; timely build-up of forces and troops in the World Ocean where a threat to the country's interests and security may originate; protection and defense of the state border under water and at sea as well as on land (within the bounds of Kaliningrad Oblast), and in certain areas also in the air space; ensuring the RF's military security in its territorial sea, its exclusive economic zone, its continental shelf and in remote parts of the World Ocean; ensuring a naval presence in the World Ocean; demonstration of the state flag and military power; exchange of visits by naval vessels and ships; participation in military, peacekeeping, and humanitarian operations organized by the international community, in the interests of the Russian Federation; provision of oceanographic, hydrometeorological, and search and rescue support for appropriate Russian or international agencies or organizations; provision of assistance to troops and armed formations of other ministries, government departments, and their command and control agencies in fulfilling their tasks (as established by federal laws).

Experience shows that the traditional forms of the employment of forces and troops (combat service and alert duty) is clearly insufficient to address the entire complex of tasks in peacetime and the period of threat preceding outbreak of war. Thus, combat service and alert duty can hardly ensure complete performance of such missions as detection, identification, warning, and prevention of military threats, participation in the resolution of armed conflicts or assisting other troops, ministries, or government departments in fulfilling their tasks.

There is no doubt that one of the most complex problems in both the theoretical and practical sphere of the operational use of naval forces and troops is the evolution of their forms of employment in fulfilling the so called special tasks. These include tasks whose performance is not related to the basic designation and functions of the Armed Forces. Say, stopping the illegal extraction of biological resources at sea; stopping the illegal shipment of weapons, drug trafficking, migration and emigration by sea; fighting terrorism in all of its manifestations; damage limitation and control, and neutralization of the effects of natural or man made catastrophes, accidents, and disasters (including the consequences of terrorist acts); and evacuation of civilians, public property, and material assets from emergency areas. There can be various forms of using naval forces and troops to fulfill said tasks.

The highest form of the operational employment of naval forces and troops as part of large strategic formations and combined arms units in performing special tasks is the operation--an aggregate of lower level operations, actions (combat actions), strikes, engagements, battles, activities, and measures coordinated and interconnected by their objectives, tasks, time, and place, and conducted according to the same concept and plan in a particular area (zone) with the aim of simultaneous or consecutive fulfillment of several operational-strategic or operational special tasks.

Special actions by naval forces and troops are an aggregate of tactical and special actions, coordinated and interconnected by their objectives, tasks, place and time, and conducted according to a single concept and plan in a particular area (zone) in the interest of consecutive performance of several operational and operational/tactical special tasks.

One variation of special actions by troops and forces are systematic actions, or actions by forces and troops on a tactical scale that are conducted over a long period of time to fulfill one operational or operational/tactical special task.

Action by forces and troops is an aggregate of special activities on a tactical level, conducted as a general rule within a limited time period according to a single concept and plan in a particular area with the aim of fulfilling a separate operational or operational/tactical task.

By the character of tasks that are performed, special actions are subdivided into counterterrorist, counter-raiding, insurgency (counterinsurgency), peacekeeping, information warfare (IW), and psychological operations; peacekeeping and diversionary actions as well as actions to ensure the state's economic security, protection and defense of the state border in the air space, under water, at sea and on land; actions to wipe out illegal armed formations and terrorist groups and to destroy certain elements of enemy military infrastructure and command and control system, to liquidate leaders of terrorist organizations, and so forth.

This list can if necessary be expanded with the understanding that the form of special actions is predicated on the vector (direction) in the fulfillment of a general special operational/strategic, operational, or operational/tactical task. Thus, special operations include, among others, an operation to stabilize the situation and protect RF interests in operationally important parts of the World Ocean (a case in point is the operation that was conducted as part of a command and staff exercise with the Pacific Fleet in 2003). The following conditions may necessitate its conduct: in peacetime, emergency situations or an internal armed conflict arising from mounting internal or transborder threats; during the period of threat preceding outbreak of war, a crisis situation or an international armed conflict arising from an aggravation of threats to the country's military security, mainly of an external character.

It appears expedient to include among special operations also an operation to resolve an armed conflict which is an aggregate of military and non-military actions and activities coordinated and interconnected by their objectives, tasks, place and time that is conducted by a mixed arms (inter-agency) formation and command and control agencies in a particular area (zone) with the aim of localizing a source of tension, neutralizing an aggressor, preventing an escalation of hostilities, creating prerequisites for averting hostilities (enforced termination of hostilities), and resolving a conflict on terms and conditions in the interests of the Russian Federation and its allies.

This kind of operation is conducted in the so called zone of armed conflict, which is defined as a part of a continent with littoral sea (oceanic) water areas and the air space over it where enemy troops, forces, and assets constituting a direct threat to the country's national interests may be deployed. Regulations established for this zone include thorough inspection of transport facilities (including water transport facilities) that can be used by an adversary to reinforce its formations and to conduct raiding operations or to carry out terrorist acts (a case in point is the designation of a part of the Persian Gulf as a zone of enhanced military danger by the U.S. military command in the course of preparations for military action against Iraq in January 2003). Military actions are conducted in the declared area of military operations, which is a part of the zone of an armed conflict that a party or parties to it establish in an effort to limit a large-scale use of military force.

As follows from the definition, the objectives of an operation to resolve an armed conflict are attained by both military and non-military measures and activities (political, diplomatic, economic, information-psychological, and legal). In order to determine the role and place of armed forces and military formations of other troops and forces in this kind of operation, it appears expedient to introduce and use the following notions: localization of a conflict zone and localization (neutralization, liquidation) of a military threat.

Localization of the zone of armed conflict should be defined as actions aimed to prevent the proliferation of a military threat outside the established zone of armed conflict. Localization of the military threat is comprised of actions to prevent the spread of the military threat in territorial scale, time, or the number of parties to a conflict; neutralization of the military threat is action aiming to create conditions ensuring a peaceful resolution of military-political contradictions; liquidation of the military threat is action aiming to destroy the opposing (enemy) force, break down its resistance, and disrupt its combat capability.

Military objectives in the course of an operation to resolve an armed conflict can be attained by fulfilling the following principal tasks: imposing (lifting) a blockade on the zone of an armed conflict (military actions); creation and build-up of formations (troops) to inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy; achievement and maintenance of air and naval superiority; holding territory in the zone of military operations; and forcing the adversary to pull out its forces and troops from a conflict area.

The content of operations to resolve an armed conflict is as follows: at the first stage (without a large-scale use of military force)--diversionary actions; action to assist border troops in preventing penetration of the country's territory by commando or raiding groups (parties), and stopping armed and other provocations on the border; harmonization of efforts with internal troops and internal affairs agencies of the RF Interior Ministry in stopping internal conflicts and other actions with the use of military force and armed violence on our territory; psychological warfare measures and activities; at the second stage (amid a large-scale employment of military force)--anti-landing, naval (air/naval) landing operations, combat action to effectively engage enemy troops, and defend the territory, deployment (basing) areas, maritime communication lines and areas of maritime economic activity; at the third stage (following termination of large-scale use of military force)--action to monitor the observance of a ceasefire or peace agreements by the opposing side.

Thus, the forms of the employment of forces and troops in performing special tasks constitute a system of special operations spanning different levels--from operational/strategic to tactical. As said earlier, the ultimate form of the employment of forces and troops is the operation and the principal form of their employment is combat action.

The choice of forms of employment in each particular case will be contingent on the character of the manifestation of the military threat and the capability of our troops, forces, and assets to neutralize it. The content of special actions will be predicated on their specifics. It is important to bear in mind that in peacetime and the period of threat preceding outbreak of war, the use of forces and troops can be organized either with or without the use of weapon systems. In any event, the employment of forces and troops will be subject to considerable limitations arising from the need to observe the rules of international and humanitarian law as well as national laws.

One highly topical and relevant trend in the evolution of forms of operational employment of naval large strategic formations and combined arms units in wartime is upgrading the methods of the combat employment of forces and troops within the framework of corresponding general fleet operations and combat action that can be conducted within the bounds of a given strategic (operational) sector by temporary (i.e., operational-level) formations of various arms and branches of service as well as of other troops with the decisive role of naval formations (large combined arms units). There are a number of key factors in the need to use inter-branch and inter-agency formations of troops and forces: the insufficient combat capabilities of forces, troops, and assets of a particular branch or arm of service to deal with the entire complex of tasks in hand; the policy of optimization and streamlining of military organization, including elimination of the duplication of functions by inter-departmental and interagency structures and action to prevent the creation of structures performing the same functions and tasks; attachment of ground, air defense, front and fighter aviation units to naval formations; minimization of losses by getting the forces and assets of one branch of service to create favorable conditions for action (operation) by other branches of services; a possible increase in the number of sectors (from the land or sea) where a threat of effective engagement can be created for an adversary, which compels it to disperse its forces and assets; the need to organize a closer interaction between naval, ground force, and air force units and formations operating in different environments, such as the land, sea, and the air.

In addition, the need for joint action by inter-branch formations of troops and forces is reaffirmed by the analysis of wars and armed conflicts in the past few years, which shows that a greater integration of traditionally isolated branches of service can help not only to maintain but also to build up military power.

Thus, as a result of reorganization of the military in the United States and other NATO member countries, joint operational formations (rapid deployment forces in the United States and rapid response forces in NATO) were created, and a corresponding procedure for their joint employment was worked out--air/naval and ground operation and campaign.

So, joint employment should, in the view of the present author, be understood as target specific, organized action by forces and troops of various branches (arms) of service as well as of other troops, armed formations, and their respective command and control agencies, conducted under single command according to a single concept and plan with the aim to perform joint operational/strategic, operational, and operational/tactical tasks. One distinguishing, necessary and sufficient, feature of the joint employment of troops and forces in the established military practice is the creation of groupings comprised of large strategic formations, combined arms units, and units of the Navy, the Ground Forces, and the Air Force as well as of other troops, armed formations, and their respective command and control agencies. Joint employment includes the use of integrated groupings of forces and troops comprised of large strategic formations, combined arms units, and units of different branches (arms) of service. Such groupings can be created also on a permanent basis in the interest of fulfilling particular tasks in a large-scale or regional war; combined (operational) groupings of troops and forces that can be comprised of large strategic formations and combined units of the Armed Forces and combined units of other troops; such groupings can be created to perform tasks in operations to resolve border or internal armed conflicts as well as to conduct military operations in a local war; and joint groupings, comprised of large strategic formations or large combined arms units (units) of the RF Armed Forces or allied armed forces. Such groupings can be created in conducting military action on the territory of allied states or in performing joint tasks in the course of an international armed conflict.

In a large-scale or regional war, forces and troops can be jointly employed in a maritime operational sector, one of its flanks being the coast line and the other, a littoral sea zone. Its boundaries are determined by the operational (battle) order of enemy forces, the physical-geographic conditions and the depth of the main naval combat service support area, and can span up to 200 kilometers to 300 kilometers of land and up to 1,000 kilometers to 1,500 kilometers of the water area and the air space above it. In a local war or armed conflicts, the zone of combat action or a part thereof that is established or declared by a state (states) that is (are) party to an armed conflict. Depending on the theater of operations and the scale of an armed conflict, the size of the zone of military action may vary.

The following can be used as part of combined formations for joint action: fleets or fleet formations; combined arms corps and armies (acting in a maritime sector); combined arms units and units of the Air Force and the Air Defense Forces, air armies of the Supreme High Command (military transport aviation); combined units and units of the Airborne Troops, Interior Troops, Railway Troops, etc.

Depending on the character and vector of military threat, a grouping of forces or troops may be built on a large strategic naval or ground force formation. Therefore, this grouping can be placed under the command of large strategic naval formation or large strategic ground force formation commander. Other formations, combined units, and units are included along the principles of operational command, attachment, and support.

It is important to note that there are two major factors in the evolution of forms of the operational employment of naval forces and troops at present. On the one hand, this is the preservation and, in some cases, expansion in the scope of tasks performed by the Navy, and on the other, a sharp downsizing of the Navy and, therefore, of its capabilities to perform these tasks. These factors come amid the emergence of a broad range of military threats to the national interests of the Russian Federation and of its allies as well as changes in their orientation and substance.

All of this points to two principal trends in the evolution of forms of the operational employment of large strategic naval formations and combined units: first, the evolution of new forms of the employment of forces and troops, adapted to performing so called special tasks; second, creation of inter-branch, interagency groupings of forces and troops.

The emerging complex situation, preconditioned by, on the one hand, an expansion in the scope of tasks performed by the Navy in peacetime and on the other, by the increasing importance of joint operations in naval warfare requires a search for new, unconventional ways of preserving and enhancing the operational and combat capability of naval forces and troops, and effective and economic forms of their operational employment.

Rear Admiral V.V. AVDOSHIN

Chief of the Navy Main Staff Operations Directorate

Vladimir Vladimirovich AVDOSHIN, born on May 8, 1953, in the town of Yuzha, Ivanovo Oblast; graduated from the A.S. Popov Higher Naval School of Electronic Engineering, the Naval Academy, the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces; served in command and staff positions at a Northern Fleet nuclear submarine formation, the Navy Main Staff; since 2002, chief of the Navy Main Staff Operations Directorate.