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The SCORPION fight

The Expectations of the SCORPION Exploratory Doctrine - Part 2 / 4 -
General tactics
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The infovalorisation goes further than the previous scan. It can be defined in three ways:

. the internet of things on the battlefield (web 3.0), or interconnection of equipment in a collaborative combat logic without human intervention;

. the operational exploitation of the added value provided by information resources ;

. the combination of the SCORPION Combat Information System (SICS), new radio systems, and even vetronics and on-board simulation.


As a tool not only for leaders but for all combatants, infovalorisation will paradoxically enable tactical leaders at all levels to break out of a certain compartmentalisation by giving them both time and means to command from the front, in view of the terrain, in contact with the combatants.


In doing so, we should not lose sight of the fact that, beyond this doctrinal renewal, it would surely be an exaggeration to speak of a "tactical break". In fact, in terms of operational engagement, breaks, when they occur, are at the strategic level. More than rules, tactics, for its part, responds to perennial and timeless principles that adapt to changing circumstances, not the least of which is the improvement of the capabilities of weapons systems. Here, it is the new capabilities linked to information enhancement, but also, to a lesser extent, to the precision of firing in depth, or even great depth, that are leading to a major change in the way combat is fought.

In this respect, much more than the discovery of tactical procedures that would like to be innovative, the SCORPION combat is, paradoxically, a return to the fundamentals of maneuvering. In this context, the SCORPION combat can be a remarkable opportunity to restore them to their former glory. Beyond the lessons learned from current operations, it is part of the perspective of a return to the threat of the use of force, which no longer makes the occurrence of a high-intensity conflict unlikely.


Finally, to conclude these expectations, with regard to the tactical level chosen for this doctrine, the choice was made, for didactic reasons as much as for the organisation of the experiments, for the IATF, a priority target of the SCORPION programme. However, SCORPION will necessarily be integrated within an articulated force, and the level of command of this IATF is in no way fixed.

As far as the generalities of SCORPION combat are concerned, it must be conceived as a decentralized maneuver in depth, based on ubiquity and lightning speed.


For reasons of safeguard related to the increasing conditions of battlefield transparency and fire efficiency, the Scorpion Grouping's scheme should be based on the dispersion of its means. On the other hand, when it is a question, at the climax of the engagement and in a given space-time framework, of shifting the balance of forces, all the effects must be concentrated in order to bring into play the mass effect. These potentially rapid alternations between dispersion and concentration are characteristic of SCORPION combat. They also contribute to maintaining uncertainty in the enemy.


The great originality of SCORPION combat lies in the notion of the echelon around which it is based. The term "echelon" should be understood as a unit, a fraction of a unit or a group of several units, capable of autonomous action with regard to its position in the area of engagement.

These are the following echelons: Command - Discovery - Assault - Logistics.

If the roles of the first and the last fall under the meaning, it is advisable to specify that of the two others:


. At the Discovery (ED) level, the role of the first is to be engaged far ahead of the SCORPION group in order to prepare the engagement of the latter by shaping the enemy in depth on the battlefield. The idea here is to revive the idea of the avant-garde, while going far beyond the simple notion of investigation, enlightenment, even reconnaissance: the goal is to identify the decisive points, especially if it is a "broader" concept, and can for example apply to the terrain, on which the enemy maneuver is to be carried out.The aim is to identify the decisive points, especially if it is a "broader" concept, and can for example apply to the terrain, on which the enemy maneuver is articulated to, by taking them to task suddenly and simultaneously, place the enemy in a position of imbalance, likely to make his maneuver inoperative.


. The Assault Echelon (EA) groups together the "Bigs" of the SCORPION group, who are responsible for engaging the enemy, initially placed in this deserted position.The EA echelon is in charge of all the means necessary to engage the enemy, initially placed in this deserted position, in order to maintain a balance in order, by a resolutely aggressive attitude, to irremediably remove from him any capacity to conduct a coherent combat over time and in the depths of the land environment, while inflicting the maximum number of losses.

In the event that a SCORPION group finds itself engaged in a defensive context, the relevance of maintaining this level of discovery is confirmed: it would then take the form of a series of outposts, far ahead of the main stopping device, so as to break the rhythm of the enemy's advance or attack and dissociate it, and thus create the conditions for the recovery, regaining the ascendancy over the enemy.


In the case of defence, once the dissociation effect of the enemy attack has been achieved by the action of theED, the assault echelon's preferred mode of action will be counter-attack, the only way to regain the initiative over the enemy.


In all modes of operation, offensive and defensive, regardless of the level considered (DE or DE.), or the chosen mode of action, the action of fire in depth is considerably enhanced by the precision of the fire of the equipment (Caesar, LRU, even onboard mortars), combined with a very significant increase in the range of the tubes. In this respect, the very strong distinction, or even opposition, that previously existed between contact and support units is tending to be clearly attenuated. The intrinsic capabilities of artillery equipment allow more and more to engage the enemy at a distance, for sure, which reduces the number of enemy engagements.The intrinsic capabilities of artillery equipment increasingly allow to engage the enemy at a distance, for sure, which reduces the number of actions in contact, sources of increased loss rates and further increase the tempo of the maneuver by removing the delays inherent in successive contact and break contact.

Conclusion

Finally, it should be noted that the performance of the SCORPION fight is based on a twofold imperative: to make the most of all the technical possibilities offered, in particular valuation information, while carefully avoiding falling into technical dependency. This is why a good exploitation of the technical possibilities will be based on an adapted command culture, based on strong subsidiarity and a strong sense of manoeuvre.

Séparateur
Title : The SCORPION fight
Author (s) : Colonel (r) Claude FRANC
Séparateur


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