Considerations Concerning Fighting Actions in the Subterranean Environment

International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION Vol. XXVI No 1 2020 CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING FIGHTING ACTIONS IN THE SUBTERRANEAN ENVIRONMENT Daniel SOLESCU “Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania [email protected] Abstract: The topic addressed in this article is a current, highly discussed one and modern armies carry out numerous analyzes and make diverse comments on this issue. In this article, the author presents the general framework of operations in the subterranean environment and, based on the operational requirements necessary for conducting such operations, analyzes the perspectives that such operations have in urban operations and suggests directions of action needed to train forces. A separate analysis is performed on how the light infantry subunits from the Romanian Army should be equipped and prepared to deal with this kind of threats / requirements in accordance with the current acceptance of the phrase “Train as you fight.” Keywords: urban operations, subterranean operations, instruction 1. Introduction The study aims to demonstrate that, in an The era of urban warfare has already begun urban conflict, in which there is a wide and can no longer be avoided, and the urban range of military missions, it is necessary to environment is complex including airspace, study the military actions that can be ground space and subterranean space. carried out in the subterranean environment Subterranean military operations is the and presents the directions of action official name of military actions that take regarding training and equipment in order place in underground cavities (existing to successfully manage these types of natural caves, artificial underground operations. installations built for military or civilian The most important urban areas include a purposes) or tunnels. Our study begins with whole range of tunnels, starting with those a presentation of the concept of operations for underground transportation, in the subterranean environment from a maintenance, water, sewerage and general perspective of the operations in the telecommunications or military tunnels that urban environment. The conceptual are designed for attack or defense. delimitation of these specific operations, Military tunnels can be used to penetrate the analysis of the manner of action of the enemy territory to execute a surprise attack, forces in the subterranean environment, or they can strengthen a defense, creating become relevant topics of knowledge for the possibility of carrying out an ambush or the military operations carried out in an counterattack, but also increasing the ability extremely hostile environment such as to transfer forces from an area of the cities or towns. combat zone in another unseen and protected area. The tunnels can also serve DOI: 10.2478/kbo-2020-0021 © 2015. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. 136 as a shelter for combatants and non- offer a series of facilities in both offensive combatants against enemy attacks. and defensive actions. The greatest surprise in the recent war During the offensive operations, the between Israel and the HAMAS militias in attacker can use besides the ground routes Gaza was the discovery of the sophisticated nearby the underground ones, allowing the network of tunnels that Hamas has been infiltration of smaller forces behind enemy developing since previous years. The defenses. The purpose of this maneuver is existing network of tunnels under the Gaza to break the enemy’s defense and to block Region offers a strong juxtaposition against the routes of withdrawal of the forces from the modern aviation, drones and artillery contact. Even if the subterranean actions do that Israel has on the ground. not achieve immediate success, the defense Even though the use of tunnels belongs to forces must defend themselves on two an older type of war, this does not mean levels: ground and underground, being that it should be regarded as a curiosity of constraint to divide their forces that must be military action. Compared to the most capable of both street and underground sophisticated weapon systems used fights. throughout history, tunnels have stood the During the course of the defensive test of time, and for centuries, have allowed operations, the tunnels offer camouflaged military units to approach undetected and protected routes on which the forces of enemy and have helped turn the battlefield reinforcement can move or counterattacks to the advantage of weaker fighters. can be launched. These passages can be Currently, we cannot estimate how long the used as communication routes, routes for supremacy of lasers, drones or missile moving the reserve troops, supplies and defense systems will last on the battlefield. evacuating the wounded. The tunnels can But one thing is certain, that as long as be used to install armoires to be used by there are wars, underground tunnels and contact forces. Through the underground facilities will certainly be part of the passages telephone cables can be installed, battlefield. which are protected against the movement of any tracked vehicles and against fire 2. Conceptual Delimitations executed with artillery or aviation. In the age of electronic warfare, where it is Underground passages provide limited almost impossible to hide military forces, firing sectors and amplify the effects of the fast passage in the underground offers a fragmentation ammunition. The interior of solution. Underground facilities are an the tunnels offers extremely low almost constant reality in an asymmetric possibilities of protection and concealment, warfare. In irregular urban warfare, tunnels it is dense darkness, and the air could be and bunker systems are essentially toxic. Combat support forces – air, tanks, advanced methods of covering up actions artillery – are useless. The walls and ceiling and hiding forces. “From a simple war can collapse at any time, and radio instrument, the underground war has communications do not work. evolved into a global security threat for all The obstacles located in the intersections of states,” wrote Daphné Richemond-Barak in the tunnels enable the creation of excellent his 2017 book, “Underground warfare.” [1] places for executing the ambushes, In major cities there are underground allowing the transformation of the garages, underground passageways, subway underground passages into areas of lines, utility tunnels, sewer tunnels or storm destruction. These obstacles can be quickly water drainage tunnels. From the tactical created using barbed wire, piles of debris point of view, the underground facilities and rubble, pieces of furniture between 137 which there are remote-controlled explosive a) Defining and developing the concept of devices or mines. subterranean war in an official doctrine The efficient use of the equipment The Land Forces do not have a doctrine provided, the techniques of moving and elaborated to deal with the underground communicating, the adaptation and the facilities, namely the fight in the survival in the subterranean environments subterranean environment, nor any are foreign skills to most soldiers of the comprehensive set of TTPs (tactics, Land Forces. techniques and procedures). The US Army The actions in the subterranean published in 2017, “Small Unit Training in environment carried out in dark and tight Subterranean Environments,” and in 2019 spaces are very similar to the operations “ATP 3-21.51 Subterranean Operations” performed during the nights and are but it acknowledges that it is incomplete. enhanced due to the narrow space in the Given the extremely complex subterranean tunnels. This type of action can trigger environment we need a new approach to feelings of fear and helplessness, of fight. So far, we have thought of the increasing the feeling of isolation even to underground as an obstacle that must be the most experienced soldiers. It is the most avoided if we encounter it. The large primitive and the hardest combat a fighter underground world existing in most major can face in the modern era. urban areas must be treated as a separate and unique environment and develop 3. Directions of Action capabilities not only to cope with this Given that the main mission of the infantry situation, but rather to dominate it. subunits and units is to “locate, fix and Specialists in the Land Forces should think destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver,” about the major implications, advantages if the enemy can prevent us from locating and disadvantages of conducting the entire or fixing it, it will be almost impossible to range of subterranean military operations destroy. (especially offensive and defensive) and An approach aimed at solving our lack of why not, even when conducting the competence should include four directions resistance struggle on the temporary of effort including: occupied territory. a) defining and developing the concept It is necessary to set up a commission of of subterranean war in an official doctrine; experts, officers and non-commissioned b) designing and implementing a course officers to deal with the gathering and with a curriculum specifically dedicated to compilation of all available information on training soldiers in the skills they need to the history, actions and underground fight and win in the subterranean operations and to be responsible for the environment; creation and further development of a c) including the tactics, techniques and specific doctrine, taking into account the procedures

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