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Contemporary Relevance of Blitzkrieg (Definition (Psychological shock,…
Contemporary Relevance of Blitzkrieg
Definition
Psychological shock
Speed
Surprise
Overwhelming combat power
Sun Tsu: soldier must adapt
After WW2 - armies studied BK
Mission Command cornerstone of success
Adopted to western armies (Rossels G, 2012)
Have people given too much credit to BK?
Manoeuvre Warfare was in its childhood
Move to create a positional advantage
BK's positional advantage is deep battle into enemy's rear
Perhaps 1940's success is not the correct criterion to judge BK
Germany lost 2 world wars
Focus on Operational dominance to detriment of strategic (PMESII-PT)
Thinking about how to win a future war is different from analysing past successes (Hobson 2010)
Denis Showalter: BK needed "obliging enemies" to make mistakes
BK successes have been offensive
Existence of surprise
Speed can press home the advancate
Penetration of defences followed by extensive exploitation turning to pursuit
Overwhelming combat power
Coordination of combat functions
Firepower
Defender seeks to Block & Delay to establish MDE
Relevance of BK
Hinges on the particular circumstances to be overcome
Are airborne forces etc., relevant?
Yes given the circumstances
Political decision
BK capable forces
Is it feasible to maintain them given probability of employment and importance to success?
Political rather than military decision
Moot point: militaries desire BK capable forces
Politicians make the call
Ireland's debate is about the existence of the military per se
Political lens. PMESII -PT
What could lead a state's political posture to become offensive
Energy Security
Climate Change
Cyber, nuclear, migration etc.
BK proven successful for offence
Outside of dystopian scenario, BK probably not relevant to most contemporary states
Superpowers require BK. Peer-Peer or Peer-nearpeer
Shock and Awe
Canada, Japan, SA, Aus. Iran
Counter ins, counter terror, cyber
nuclear deterrant