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Evolution of Warfare; from first LIVE TV

generation warfare to fifth

generation warfare
ugc.wionews.com
New Delhi Written By: Darshan Gajjar Updated: Jul 22,
2022, 09:55 PM IST

Fifth-generation warfare is being fought on the internet FOLLOW US

Photograph:(Reuters)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Warfare has advanced from the ancient game of soldier numbers to using the
internet to run a disinformation campaign. Read on to know how modern warfare
has been shaped by previous ages of warfare

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It is a ubiquitous fact that the nature of warfare is
continuously evolving. While the four generations
of the 'art of warfare' were barely recognized until

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As inflation soars recently, the experts have already started talking

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Whether it is the war of Mahabharata in ancient

India or the Peloponnesian and Trojan wars in the
Killer robots and Greek world; Wars are an inherent part of human
the future of war history. Recently, the Russia-Ukraine conflict
which was limited to small areas escalated to a full-
fledged war notwithstanding Russia calling it a
special military operation. With this, we are
witnessing the emergence of, what analysts and
experts call, information and psychological battles.
Amid all the chaos, it is worth analysing the
evolution of warfare, and how its nature has
changed up until now.

First-generation warfare

First-generation warfare refers to conflicts in the

ancient and post-classical periods that were fought
with a large number of men, utilizing line and
column tactics, and under state control.

Cavalry forces were also part of the first generation

warfare, where the results mostly depended on the
number of soldiers a force possessed.

Second-generation warfare

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In 1989, the American military coined the term,

'Second generation warfare' which refers to the
Early Modern strategies adopted following the
introduction of the rifled musket and breech-
loading weapons. It also employed the use
of machine gun and indirect fire.

The number game soon became a redundant point

as the army with rifles and artillery could shoot
from distance and inflict much more damage to the
adversary.

Third-generation warfare

Third-generation warfare is centred on utilising

strategies from technology that rely on speed,
stealth, and surprise to go beyond the enemy's lines
and devastate their forces from behind.

In essence, this marked the end of linear warfare

from a tactical perspective where troops sought to
outmanoeuvre one another rather than just engage
in combat to obtain the upper hand. Aerial battles
were extensively part of third-generation warfare.

Fourth-generation warfare

With the nation-states losing their monopoly on

wars and battles fourth generation warfare came
into being where non-state actors started playing
roles in wars. The majority of people believe that
non-state actors are terrorists. While their
understanding is alright, they still can't comprehend
the complete interpretation of a non-state actor.

It is pertinent to note that civil society and Non-

Government Organisations (NGOs) are also
considered non-state actors. In this generation of

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warfare, states are to collaborate to fight these non-

state actors. Fourth-generation warfare is
characterised by a 'postmodern' return to
decentralized forms of warfare, blurring the
borders between war and politics, soldiers, and
civilians.

Fifth-Generation warfare

With the emergence of the Internet in the digital

age, we have entered fifth Generation warfare.
Fifth-generation warfare is mostly non-kinetic
activity, such as social engineering, disinformation
campaigns, usage of cutting-edge technologies like
Information Technology and artificial intelligence
to initiate cyber attacks.

Gray zone warfare, psychological warfare,

information warfare, cyber warfare, and biological
warfare are all part of fifth-generation warfare.
Daniel Abbot described fifth-generation warfare as
a struggle of 'information and perception'.

Fifth-generation warfare is distinguished by its

'omnipresent battlefield' and the use of a
combination of kinetic and non-kinetic force rather
than exclusively military power. Colonels Qiao
Liang and Wang Xiangsui of the People's
Liberation Army noted in their 1999 book
'Unrestricted Warfare' that the conventional
military violence had decreased in the years
following the Gulf War, which was correlated to an
increase in 'political, economic, and technological
violence,' which they argued could be more
destructive than a conventional war.

If one has to summarise fifth-generation warfare it

could be done best through Sun Tzu's quote, 'All
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warfare is based on deception'.

As we enter the era of fifth-generation warfare, it is
imperative to develop a strategy to counter all of
these challenges with a government approach.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not

represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does
WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer)

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