Do not make air defense in the defense an afterthought! Even if you possess air supremacy on your battlefield; enemy air can make life unpleasant. It only takes one enemy aircraft to get into your main defensive area to throw your entire plan into chaos.
With that said, there are several assets you will want to ensure possess excellent air defense protection. These include:
Command and Control Nodes (These typically put out big electronic signatures which a smart enemy is looking for).
Your main effort (the enemy will expend resources to try to identify)
Fire Support Radars
Logistic areas (particularly in the rear area)
Your reserve (again, the enemy will attempt to identify)
Place air defense assets along any chokepoints you may want to maneuver through. A smart enemy will try to take away your options with a surgical air strike.
Cover bridges you may want to utilize later with air defense. Again, your enemy will try to take out bridges he feels you want to use with air strikes.
Cover your supply routes with air defense coverage. Nothing makes a pilot more giddy than seeing a convoy of supply vehicles moving hi-diddle- diddle- up- the- middle. It is a very lucrative target.
Ensure you provide your air defense assets (particularly radar systems) proper security and survivability. Do not allow an enemy dismounted patrol to take out your air defense.
Ensure you protect your caches of air defense ammunition. Depending on the weapons platform, a basic load can go very quickly and resupply is needed. It’s obviously not good when an enemy field artillery round takes out your air defense ammo!
Do not make it easy for enemy air. Dispersion of vehicles is critical. This is especially true in the preparation phase of the defense. Clusters of vehicles are lucrative targets. One stray airplane can cause plenty of damage.
Nuclear/Biological/Chemical (NBC)
FOX Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle
Based on your IPB (Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield), you must position your NBC detection equipment in the areas where you anticipate the enemy will use them.
There are several candidates your enemy may want to ‘slime’ (contaminate). These include your reserve location, key command posts, and logistical areas. With that the case, you should locate not only detection equipment there, but have a plan in place for hasty and deliberate decontamination.
The vast majority of NBC centric vehicles are of minimum quantity in a unit. In fact, they are normally provided to the unit for a specific time and mission by the higher headquarters. Consequently, these are very critical assets in a unit. Since they are critical and possess little in the way of internal security; you must assign them some forces for security. Again, you do not want an enemy patrol sneaking up on these vehicles and taking these important assets out.
Ensure you have a plan to dig these vehicles in during the defense. Do not make it easy for your enemy to fire a stray artillery shell and destroy the asset.
It is a good idea to augment your reserve with NBC reconnaissance support. Once you deploy the reserve and order their movement, you will want this support maneuvering with them.
Provide your NBC assets clear priorities. If an event does occur, they must have direction.
Intelligent use of smoke in the defense is truly a combat multiplier. Unfortunately, many times the intelligent piece is left out of the equation. The haphazard use of smoke on the battlefield will adversely affect you more than your foe. The use of smoke is certainly art and science. Because of this challenge, we will spend a future article dedicated on the subject. In the meantime, here are a few things you should consider using smoke in the defense:
Conceal the maneuver of key forces (reserve, striking force, etc…)
Slow or disrupt enemy maneuver
Isolate enemy units
If used effectively can silhouette vehicles making them much easier targets
Disrupt enemy command and control forcing vehicles to mass prematurely.
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