Wishlist: The Next World War

[IronDuke99]

[quote=jp10;835525]

Originally Posted by shahadi

Actually, in a heavily EW degraded environment units just fall back on the old tactics of marching towards the sounds of the guns. Warfare 1862 style with assault rifles.

I suspect, at least at the moment, that that sort of almost 1918 style warfare (a closer match than 1862 to my mind) might be the lot of a enemy of a major Western force rather than the Western force itself, and, to be fair, the Russians and Chinese have something more like the manpower and area weapons to, maybe, make it work.

[Suhiir]

Well a big thing with the US is that there are so damn many communications nets, and these days they're almost all encrypted and/or burst transmission, additionally the call signs and radio frequencies tend to change on a daily basis.

How the hell do you know which one to evesdrop on or jam?
If you try to scramble the thousands of frequencies the US is using at any given moment using some sort of blanket jamming you will almost invariably wind up jamming your own communications! The same applies to using some sort of EMP burst, you'd fry your own equipment as well.
Major communications links tend to use microwave or laser thus are pretty much impossible to jam or intercept.

[shahadi]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

Well a big thing with the US is that there are so damn many communications nets, and these days they're almost all encrypted and/or burst transmission, additionally the call signs and radio frequencies tend to change on a daily basis.

How the hell do you know which one to evesdrop on or jam?
If you try to scramble the thousands of frequencies the US is using at any given moment using some sort of blanket jamming you will almost invariably wind up jamming your own communications! The same applies to using some sort of EMP burst, you'd fry your own equipment as well.
Major communications links tend to use microwave or laser thus are pretty much impossible to jam or intercept.

It is not traditional EW jamming as such. The trick is a hack into the network, not jam it.

In 2009 the US established a cyber command, we already have EW schools in the services, so why a cyber command.

Cyberspace is about information as warfare and applications and pieces of hardware as weapons.

Iran just didn't jam that drone signal, they took control and landed it.

Israel and the US didn't jam Iranian centrifuges, they infected the network, that's cyber warfare. It was called Stuxnet.

The attacker does not have to know frequencies once he has infected the network.

But, in our game is what I am concerned about. How to simulate cyber warfare consequences on the map, or how to reduce the "God" view. Simple.

jp10 brought forward an interesting suggestions. I don't how to design a scenario limited the player to use waypoints. But, it was most thoughtful idea.

And, that's a major function of this forum, to share and ask what if, how could, what if. In a civil way.

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[IronDuke99]

Originally Posted by shahadi

It is not traditional EW jamming as such. The trick is a hack into the network, not jam it.

In 2009 the US established a cyber command, we already have EW schools in the services, so why a cyber command.

Cyberspace is about information as warfare and applications and pieces of hardware as weapons.

Iran just didn't jam that drone signal, they took control and landed it.

Israel and the US didn't jam Iranian centrifuges, they infected the network, that's cyber warfare. It was called Stuxnet.

The attacker does not have to know frequencies once he has infected the network.

But, in our game is what I am concerned about. How to simulate cyber warfare consequences on the map, or how to reduce the "God" view. Simple.

jp10 brought forward an interesting suggestions. I don't how to design a scenario limited the player to use waypoints. But, it was most thoughtful idea.

And, that's a major function of this forum, to share and ask what if, how could, what if. In a civil way.

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Not saying 'cyber warfare' is not important but it is, and can only be, 95%+ strategic and it really has next to no tactical applications, at present, so far as I'm aware. 'Infecting' a military coms network, on the battlefield, would be rather difficult, to say the least. As Suhiir said, jamming or disrupting a major Western forces coms, more than partially, would be very, very, difficult.

On the other hand Western Forces have got very good at listening in to our enemies especially all those strictly 'non-peer' types talked about elsewhere. Also it is one thing that UK forces are especially good at, I am happy to say. And, of course hearing what your enemy is saying is often much better than jamming them...

[Suhiir]

Originally Posted by IronDuke99

Not saying 'cyber warfare' is not important but it is, and can only be, 95%+ strategic and it really has next to no tactical applications ...

Exactly.
And since WinSPMBT is a tactical game ...

Originally Posted by IronDuke99

I suspect, at least at the moment, that that sort of almost 1918 style warfare (a closer match than 1862 to my mind) might be the lot of a enemy of a major Western force rather than the Western force itself, and, to be fair, the Russians and Chinese have something more like the manpower and area weapons to, maybe, make it work.

Actually more like late WW II/Korea/early Vietnam. At that time radio com below company-to-battalion level was rare and most vehicle-to-vehicle/aircraft-to-aircraft comm would be almost totally unaffected even if their ability to access GPS and share battlefield info was somehow knocked out.

For game purposes just use the scenario editor to remove everyone's radios ... walla .. less "god view" ... you can't call in accurate artillery/air as you have no spotters.

[shahadi]

Meaning.

That since the middle of the twentieth century, commanders have had real-time "God" views of a battle?

I think not.

My inquiry is how to reduce "God" view of the map in our game, even if you say, we will always have it because of x,y,or z that does not mean a non-peer, if you will insurgent group has that "God" view of the battle.

Then designing a scenario where the player is that insurgent force what explanation do we have for a meager Taliban group commander having "God" view of the map?

Or, say we want to author a Korean war scenario, what explains either side having "God" view of the map?

If a player can see a unit on the map he can have a FO or her A0 call in fires. Radio or no, the player has "God" view.

Ever try to target a unit that you can see but is out of that firing unit's vision. We know what happens. Then, I suggest a player only see what his selected unit can see.

If we move to the 21st century we may explain "God" view in many ways from persistent drone coverage, satellite, or a J-Star providing battle management assist to the ground commander.

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[Suhiir]

Unless you play a double blind wargame you're always going to suffer from a certain amount of "god view" as was pointed out.

Given the game mechanics you need to "be creative" ...
Make it a night scenario, give all the high-tech side units varying levels of night vision and the low-tech side nada. That way you get asymmetric sighting in the game.

[shahadi]

"The Air Force is working closely with industry partners to strengthen cybersecurity for larger service platforms such as an F-22 or F-35 fighters."

"We have to understand that today's weapons systems are not operating in isolation. They are operating as part of a netted enterprise. Each weapons system will interface with a broader DOD network..."

"While increased interoperability among networks, weapons and platforms vastly expedites combat efficacy in a wide range of scenarios, Ballenger emphasized that greater connectivity can also increase vulnerability to malicious penetration and server attacks, (my emphasis) among other problems."

Read the article here: http://www.scout.com/military/warrio...-protects-f-22.

It is a great read.

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[Suhiir]

That "netted enterprise" assumes maximum use of and effect from the various systems. OK, you lose your ability to share info with everyone else, so your overall battlefield awareness is reduced (probably drastically). Does that make all your combat systems useless? By no means. Pilots can still spot and engage targets, artillery can still be called in via radio, etc.

We've had GPS for years, yet in the Marines at least we still train with, and use a map an compass because only a fool would assume you'll always have batteries and satellite links.

So yes, hacking and EMP will effect things, but it won't make everything useless.

[shahadi]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

That "netted enterprise" assumes maximum use of and effect from the various systems. OK, you lose your ability to share info with everyone else, so your overall battlefield awareness is reduced (probably drastically). Does that make all your combat systems useless? By no means. Pilots can still spot and engage targets, artillery can still be called in via radio, etc.

We've had GPS for years, yet in the Marines at least we still train with, and use a map an compass because only a fool would assume you'll always have batteries and satellite links.

So yes, hacking and EMP will effect things, but it won't make everything useless.

The effect of a successful hack say on the F-35s threat warning system is sufficient to doom that pilot. The microchips may have been enginnerred in a way to process a foe signal as a friend. Then, before the pilot can react or even if he or she does, the missile homes on the plane. Or, the hack chains a bank of microchips to signalthe missile, rendering the pilot doomed.

Now, imagine the subject unit is a command, control, and signal station say at brigade and the affected threat signal processors grant friend status to a foe. Bam. Now the various companies cannot share data and their effiency is horrible degraded. Havong a map and GPS does not tell a company commander where the enemy is.

The article covers such threats as a result of cyber warfare. We are not talking about EMPs jamming or any number of battlefield disruptions. The hack may have began during a simple maintenance of microchips in the threat proceesing system back state side.

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