US warfare in Somalia and the trade-off between casualty-aversion and civilian protection

This article examines the ways in which the two normative concerns of casualty-aversion and civilian protection influenced US military strategy in the particular context of the asymmetric conflict in Somalia in the early 1990s. The article critically evaluates US military operations through the prism of international humanitarian law and examines whether American forces started prioritizing casualty-aversion over the safeguarding of Somali civilians. Finally, by drawing on emerging moral guidelines (such as Michael Walzer's idea of ‘due care’), the article examines whether lower numbers of Somali civilian deaths could have been achieved if marginal increases to the risks faced by US soldiers had been accepted.     

‘Immediate redress’: USS Potomac and the pirates of Quallah Batoo

Maritime interests in the twenty-first century are not immune to the growing number of irregular challenges and hybrid threats that have come to dominate land warfare. In order to better understand these challenges a study of naval history can help provide a vital foundation. In the early 1830s the United States Navy dispatched the frigate USS Potomac to Sumatra to investigate a pirate attack on the spice trader Friendship. Potomac's crew of sailors and Marines conducted a landing at the village Quallah Batoo and fought a pitched battle. As the navies of the world approach naval irregular warfare in the new century, studying past examples like Potomac's mission can help illuminate the principles of successful naval irregular warfare.     

Book Reviews

Iain McCallum, Blood Brothers Hiram and Hudson Maxim: Pioneers of Modern Warfare. London: Chatham, 1999. Pp. 224, 33 illus., 2 maps, biblio., index. £20. ISBN 1–86176–096–5.

Eric Ash, Sir Frederick Sykes and the Air Revolution, 1912–1918. London and Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 1999. Pp.xviii + 268, 20 illus., 3 maps, biblio., index. £42.50/$59.50 (cloth), £18.50/$27.50 (paper). ISBN 0–7146–4828–0 and ‐4382–3.

Azar Gat, Fascist and Liberal Visions of War: Fuller, Liddell Hart, Douhet, and other Modernists. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Ppviii + 334, biblio., index. £45. ISBN 0–19–820715–8.

David B. Woolner (ed.), The Second Quebec Conference Revisited: Waging War, Formulating Peace: Canada, Great Britain, and the United States in 1944–1945. Basingstoke; London: Macmillan Press, 1998. Pp.xiii + 210, index. £32.50. ISBN 0–333–75970–2.

Jeffrey Grey. Up Top: The Royal Australian Navy and Southeast Asian Conflicts 1955–1972. St Leonards NSW: Allen &; Unwin in association with the Australian War Memorial, 1998. Pp.xx + 380, 110 illus., 12 tables, 23 maps &; diagrams, appendices, notes, biblio., index. NP. ISBN 1–86448–290–7.

Susan L Carruthers, The Media at War. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000. Pp.321, biblio., index. £14.99 (paper). ISBN 0–333–69143–1, also available in hardback.

Edward J. Marolda and Robert J. Schneller Jr, Shield and Sword: The United States Navy and the Persian Gulf War. Washington DC: Naval Historical Center, 1998. Pp.xxi + 517, 120 illus., 14 maps, biblio., index. NP. ISBN 0–1604–9476–1.

Marvin Pokrant, Desert Shield at Sea: What the Navy Really Did and Desert Storm at Sea: What the Navy Really Did. Both Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. Pp.xxiii + 265,9 illus., biblio., index. £44.95. ISBN 0–313–31023–8. Pp.xxiv + 329,12 illus., biblio., index. NP. ISBN 0–313–31024–6.

David Kaularich and Ronald C. Kramer, Crimes of the American Nuclear State: At Home and Abroad. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1999. Pp.xviii + 195, biblio., index. £42.75. ISBN 1–55553–371‐X.

Stanley Hoffmann, World Disorders: Troubled Peace in the Post‐Cold War Era. Lanham, MD: Rowman &; Littlefield, 1998. Pp.viii+279, notes, index. $29.95. ISBN 0–8476–8574–8.

Lawrence Freedman (ed.), Strategic Coercion: Concepts and Cases. Oxford: Oxford‐University Press, 1998. Pp.400, index. £48. ISBN 0–19–829–349–6.

Stephen J. Cimbala, Coercive Military Strategy. College Station, TX: Texas A&;M University Press, 1998. Pp.229, biblio, index; $39.95. ISBN 0–89096–836–5     

Virtual War in the Ice Jungle: ‘We don't know how to do this’

The Cold War at sea expanded in many realms, including the frigid and treacherous waters of the Arctic Ocean. The US Navy pioneered these efforts with the visit of USS Nautilus to the North Pole in 1958. During the latter stages of the Cold War, however, Soviet naval strategists began to conceptualize the polar ice cap as a strategic asset for cloaking the operations of its nuclear missile submarines. As under-ice operations afforded the Soviet submarine fleet advantages of stealth, proximity to target and tighter lines of communications, both navies were forced to try to develop tactics for combat under these extremely complex and arduous conditions.     

Non-lethal weapons and the long tail of warfare

This paper examines whether non-lethal weapons (NLWs) enhance the capability of the US armed forces to conduct irregular warfare (IW) operations. With expectations that the operational environment will only continue to become more complex in the future, NLWs may reduce the level of violence received, as well as dispensed, by US forces while performing tasks in the IW spectrum. We argue that NLWs increase the ability of US forces to address the long tail of warfare and their deployment should be increased in the near term.     

网络中心战及其对装备精确保障的几点启示

介绍了网络中心战的产生背景及发展历史,研究归纳了网络中心战的概念及内涵,分析了网络中心战原理,探讨了网络中心战对实现装备精确保障的一些启示,提出了我军在实现装备精确保障过程中借鉴网络中心战理论的构想及应注意的问题.     

两栖攻击舰作战系统

未来的两栖战舰将进一步强化立体两栖突击能力,将普遍设置直升机机库和飞行平台,并将携带气垫登陆艇,甚至地效翼飞行器、偏转翼飞机等立体两栖突击装备;另一方面强化自身的防御武器,除了常规的中小口径舰炮外,普遍都装备导弹发射装置;此外,舰上都设有由通信系统和计算机组成的、能处理多批目标、反应快、自动化程度高的两栖指挥控制系统。本文介绍美两栖攻击舰（LHA）和两栖船坞运输舰（LPD）的作战系统及其设备。     

舰空导弹武器系统信息化发展对策

为打赢未来海上信息化战争,作为舰艇编队盾牌的舰空导弹必须适应信息化发展的要求。主要研究了国外舰空导弹作战体系发展和美军"网络中心战"思想,提出了必须尽快发展具有实战能力的舰载和空中平台装载的舰空导弹协同作战系统,提高舰空导弹的信息化水平,研究相关的信息对抗手段及电子对抗装备,确保舰空导弹在复杂电磁环境下正常工作。     

多无人机协作侦察中的车辆再识别

在多无人机协作侦察中,匹配识别不同无人机侦察发现的装甲车辆,属于车辆再识别任务。近年来,车辆再识别技术在智能交通领域得到了快速发展,但是该技术尚未在军事领域得到充分的关注和应用。本文围绕该技术的发展和军事应用展开研究,一方面,从数据集、特征表示、注意力学习、度量学习、属性学习等方面对民用车辆再识别技术进展进行综述,分析总结了现有技术的优点和劣势,提出了有待深入探索的研究方向;另一方面,以多无人机协作侦察任务为背景,探讨分析了车辆再识别在其中的作战运用方式,并针对战场上存在的计算资源有限、环境复杂多变等因素导致车辆再识别性能下降问题,提出了可能的解决思路。本文研究可为车辆再识别技术在多无人机协作侦察中的应用提供前瞻性参考。     

论信息化条件下战场空间的嬗变

随着信息技术在战争中的广泛应用,战场空间正在由传统的陆、海、空三维空间向自然空间、非自然空间和认知空间拓展,并且已经初步形成了七维一体作战空间的雏形,战场空间也呈现出与以往不同的宏观化、微观化、虚拟化和无序化的新特点;在分析各作战空间辩证关系的基础上,提出了对未来我军现代化建设的几点启示.