Army outlines future asymmetric threats

[unhappycamper]

A company poster from a Russian trade show shows an aircraft-mounted RPG-29, one of the many potential asymmetric threats listed in a new Army report.


Army outlines future asymmetric threats
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 8, 2008 7:11:13 EDT

Terrorists, insurgents and other enemies of U.S. forces are likely to use more lethal weapons and some advanced fighting tactics in years to come, according to a new Army future threat assessment called “Asymmetric Threats to Current and Future U.S. Forces.”

The assessment found that U.S. adversaries will likely use more unmanned aerial vehicles, improved rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank guided missiles, shoulder-fired missiles, and vehicle-mounted mortars along with small to medium arms.

“This is all open-source material coupled with the best military judgment. We look at likely trends for the future,” said retired Marine Corps Col. Darrell Combs, who runs the TRISA (TRADOC Intelligence Support Activity) Wargaming, Experimentation, Test and Evaluation Directorate at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Combs and his “red team” of researchers at Fort Leavenworth analyze tactics, budgets and available weaponry across the globe to identify potentially challenging war zone scenarios for U.S. forces.

“We look at weapons that are more available to state and non-state actors that are accessible, cheaper, and certainly more affordable compared to an F-18,” said Combs. “Our job is to provide the stress and tension on the U.S. military so that they can identify where the weaknesses are. We look at trends worldwide, run military budget analyses and put packages together for different parts of the world,” said Combs.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/defense_futurethreats_050708mil/