The Air Force needs new glasses: sensor requirements for urban operations

Air & Space Power Journal, Fall, 2006 by David L. Robie

WE CAN NO longer consider urban operations an optional proficiency. The current situation in Iraq makes clear that US soldiers, sailors, and airmen must have the capabilities and tools to operate effectively in the urban environment. For example, in Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2004), David Zucchino chronicles the trials, tribulations, and ultimate success of the taking of Baghdad. Other Iraqi experiences include the attempt to eliminate insurgency in Fallujah in late 2004 and more recently in Iraq's northern provinces in the fall of 2005. Outside Iraq, the US military has engaged in numerous urban conflicts, including those in Panama and Kosovo as well as the stunning loss in Mogadishu, which emphatically changed US foreign policy in Somalia. These past and present examples not only give clear indication of the critical nature of urban capabilities but also foreshadow an even more significant role for urban operations in future conflicts.

The urban environment has become an essential responsibility in modern conflict because of significant changes arising from three current trends: the massing of people in urban areas, the increasing influence and power of these areas, and the changing face of conflict. Continual movement of the population from a rural to urban environment began with the industrial revolution and continues with the world's urban population growing four times faster than its rural counterpart. This population movement creates a secondary effect by concentrating influence as urban areas become centers of gravity for diplomatic, informational, military (command authority), and economic power. Finally, the end of the Cold War and the new world order that has emerged in the last decade have all but eliminated the possibility of heavily armored warfare in open terrain. Future US engagements will most likely include regional conflicts, failed states, and nonstate actors. Insurgents, terrorists, and small regional states will not attempt to engage the United States in open battle since US forces enjoy an overwhelming advantage in sensing, speed, and firepower. Instead, they will choose urban terrain, where they will attempt to remove the asymmetric capabilities of the United States and try to mass their effects against "soft" civilian targets. These three factors make understanding the urban terrain an essential part of future conflict. Today, we must consider urban operations a core competency of all US military services.

Background

Understanding the urban environment's complexity--one that exists on numerous levels--poses the greatest challenge to urban war fighters. Physically complex and extremely diverse, its terrain includes the urban canyons of major metropolitan cities, the close quarters of ancient cities, and the urban sprawl that surrounds both. The physical complexity is also multidimensional, starting from rooftops; going through numerous floors; and ending in subterranean basements, conduits, and lines of communications. Home to millions of people, each individual motivated by an intricate combination of beliefs and desires, the urban environment is also psychologically complex. These people, influenced by personal conviction, devotion to family, or the norms of a subculture, will react uniquely to events. Understanding these motivations presents significant challenges to the war fighter. Finally, the urban environment is characterized by spatial and temporal density. That is, an event of interest may involve only 10 people and last just a few minutes in a prolonged occupation of a city. The ability to discern and understand important events and to react appropriately represents yet another daunting task for the urban operator. The combination of complex structure, human interaction, and density of information magnifies the importance of understanding this environment.

Proposed Solution

On the one hand, the Air Force's ability to hold the ultimate high ground, potentially provide a bird's-eye view, move unimpeded to any location, and project massive firepower with unprecedented accuracy allows urban operators to improve their understanding. On the other hand, the Air Force cannot provide sufficiently precise intelligence collection, cannot always operate unimpeded due to the threat of man-portable air defense systems, and cannot always project massive firepower in the close quarters of urban terrain. Although significant improvements in sensor technology and systems will not solve all of these problems, they will provide the war fighter with the tools to grasp the complexities of this environment. To promote, fund, and field these capabilities, the research community--led by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)--must fundamentally change the direction of current and future programs. The following recommendations will help the AFRL provide joint and coalition forces with the capabilities they need for urban operations.

Think Urban

Thinking urban will permit AFRL scientists and engineers to view their programs from the proper perspective and will require each program--from basic research through engineering, manufacturing, and development--to consider the contribution it makes to the urban effort. Scientists need to develop systems with sufficient precision to detect items of interest and the persistence to observe on a near-continual basis; however, sensors are not the only element of thinking urban. Due to the complexity and multilevel nature of the urban environment, three-dimensional presentation tools, such as perspective viewing, walk-/.y-through, and layered data with fusion capabilities, are a must to facilitate understanding.