A top Army officer predicts future warfare will increasingly feature long-range rocket threats, many emanating from urban areas.
Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, director of Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) and deputy commanding general, futures, Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), cited historical examples for an audience Tuesday at the Future of War conference in Washington. First was the German V-1 and V-2 threat during World War II. The V-1 was a surface-to-surface, pilotless flying bomb used against England with a range of about 150 miles. The V-2 was the first practical rocket-guided ballistic missile.
Photo: Raytheon
“We’re going to see a lot of bad things that can be delivered at long-range emanating from enemy territory, and increasingly (from) urban areas,” McMaster said.
McMaster also cited “Scud” missile threats from the western Iraq desert during the first Gulf War in the early 1990s. The Scud was a mobile, Russian-made, short-range, tactical ballistic surface-to-surface missile system, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). McMaster said the Army is responding to an increase in long-range rocket threats by investing in missile defense and air defense capabilities.
McMaster also touched on cyber operations, saying the Army is examining the tactical implications of cyber and its involvement in the Army’s Combined Arms Operations. McMaster also expects future adversaries to use cyber attacks to compromise Army capabilities with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), autonomous and semi-autonomous systems, long-range precision munitions and commercially-available satellite imagery.
The Army calls ARCIC the service’s “think tank” that studies global trends related to the complex future environment where soldiers will operate.