Five Rings

"The Five Rings process is derived from the 1990-1991 work of USAF Colonel John A. Warden III and his followers during the build up and execution of the Gulf War. Col. Warden convinced Gulf War commander, Gen. Norman A. Schwarzkopf, of the need to adopt a radically different strategy and warfighting template for his battle with Iraq. Warden's basic premise was that all nation states consist of five concentric rings -or centers of gravity-the innermost ring being leadership, then key production, infrastructure, population, and-finally-fielded military forces. Prior to the ascendancy of air power, the only way to subdue a nation state was first to engage and then destroy the opponent's fielded military forces. Until that was accomplished, the other centers of gravity (i.e. all other areas vital to the survival, continued functioning, and will of the nation state) would be impossible to reach. With air power, this is no longer the case. All aspects of a nation state are vulnerable to attack and destruction by air power from the onset of hostilities. Having said that, Warden and others believe that leadership is the real key to success or failure in war. When an enemy's leaders decide they had enough, they sue for peace-or someone takes power away from them. For that reason, every action in war should be geared to affecting the enemy's leadership directly or indirectly."

This model lies at the heart of the Total Air War Campaign system.

War Room

The War Room is the strategic hub of the Total Air War campaign system. This is where you turn for up-to-the-minute data, live from the battlefield. From here you can review the Allied strategy, note its progress, see which targets are being attacked and where you are losing your aircraft.

Use the Mode buttons down the left hand side to change the multi-function display in the centre of the War Room. Filter different target types using the filters on the right:

  • PIT for political targets;
  • INF for infrastructure targets;
  • ARMY for military targets;
  • AF for Air Force targets (e.g. air force radar ranges);
  • NAV for naval targets;
  • C4 for communications, command, control and computing targets (e.g. EWR radar ranges);
  • POL for Petroleum, oil and lubricant targets;
  • IND for industrial targets;
  • AC for airborne aircraft
  • GB for ground based (e.g. SAM radar ranges)

    Use the Skip button to advance time - but remember that the Campaign will continue running as you do, so you will have to react quickly if a situation develops.

  • Strategy

    Select Strategy from the War Room to display the current allied strategy.

    Your political leaders have set you a time limit in which to achieve your strategic objective: in this case you have only six hours left to destroy 15% of the Enemy's Air Force targets. Remember: these time limits are not fixed. If the strategic balance shifts, your political leaders may dictate a change of strategy, so move swiftly and strike as effectively as you can. Time is not your ally.

    Target list

    As the Campaign engine issues air tasking orders (ATO) to allied aircraft, so they launch out on strike missions deep into enemy territory. You can watch the offensive unfurl by selecting the Targets option from the War Room.

    Each target from the current strategic ring (in this case, Air Force) is listed in order based upon its strategic worth to the Allied objective. You can see immediately a measure of its current status: the Damage value, and the number of Allied flights inbound to that target. Click on the highlighted target and hold the left mouse button down to view those inbound flights as they cross the map. Check the targets on a regular basis to monitor exactly where your resources are going and in what numbers.

    Event log

    Through the satallite eyes of the War Room, monitor events as they occur in real time. Every allied, enemy and neutral mission launch, kill, strike and intercept will appear in the Event log.

    You want to see Allied gains appearing here. If they aren't, then you could be on the verge of defeat and you will need to rethink your tactics immediately.

    C4 nodes

    From the War Room Theatre map, select the C4 filter to display the position of all known C4 nodes in theatre. These will include the EWR sites and an indication of their detection range.

    If you are about to accept a strike mission, remember that a stealthy mission package will be able to fly close to enemy EWR sites without detection. Note how some of the AF targets we are attacking at present are covered by EWR. Remember this when selecting which target to strike.

    Airfield

    Selecting AF in the War Room filters will overlay the position of every airbase in theatre and a measure of their radar strength. Remember, if an airbase is strong it will be capable of launching a Scramble mission as you pass. Avoid Enemy airbases where you can to make your mission easier. Conversely, when returning from a strike mission, overfly an Allied airbase if possible. If you've been followed back by an Enemy intercept, then you should get assistance from an Allied Scramble mission in shooting them down.
    SAM defences

    The same rules apply to the SAM positions overlaid on the theatre map by pressing the GB filter button. Again, use them to your advantage when returning into Allied territory and avoid them when behind Enemy and Neutral lines. However, if you are flying as a Wild Weasil, take the opportunity to carve a path through the Enemy defences with well aimed Mavericks.

    When repositioning your CAPs in the AWACS, remember that the combination of Scramble flights and SAM defenses will eliminate many of the Enemy bogies. You might be able to move your CAPs deeper into allied territory and provide a second line of defence instead of leaving them along your borders. This may prove more successful in the long run.

    Sortie graph

    Mission launches are logged on the hour and displayed in the Sortie Graph. This is another very visible indicator of whether or not you are winning the race to air domination. It doesn't look very promising for us at the moment because our offensive and defensive sortie rates are well below those of the Enemy. We should be aiming to turn this around.

    While you are struggling for air domination, take full advantage of the stealthy array of aircraft and weapons you have at your fingertips. An F-22 carrying internal weapons is much less likely to get detected by SAM, EWR and airbase defences so is more likely to be effective in its mission objectives.

    As the Enemy sortie rate (both offensive and defensive) drops below ours, we can be confident that we are heading towards air domination. As we achieve this, our offensive and defensive rates should separate: more offensive missions being flown than defensive. This would be ideal. However, as Allied airbases take damage, so their ability to launch missions will be reduced. This will effect our sortie rates immediately and will make our objectives harder to achieve.

    Kills and Losses graph

    Overlaying the Allied and Enemy losses on the Damage Map illustrates where aircraft are being lost. You would expect many to be lost over borders where they first meet resistance and also further inside enemy territory where they come up against Scramble and SAM defences. This is borne out by this Losses screenshot.

    However, what is also apparent is that few losses are occuring on the seaward border. This might suggest that no Enemy aircraft are approaching via this route. However, don't be complacent because the Enemy will be aware of this too - and may decide that this is the quickest route to their strategic objectives.

    Incursion

    While we were busy looking at the the War Room data, the Sudanese launched a series of incursions via the Red Sea towards Eritrea. Our previous observation was correct - the Enemy are trying to take advantage of our poor northern defense system.

    Now is the time to think carefully about your strategy. The Sudanese forces seem to be avoiding many of your border CAP flights - maybe you should consider repositioning them along the seaward border? There are a pair of F-16 and F-16U capping deep in Ethiopia. They could be better used further north defending the Eritrean coast.

    Now is the time to Scramble and intercept the bogies or head for the AWACS and reposition the Allied CAP flights. Take note of the Enemy strategy (in this case they appear to be attacking your Air Force resources). Where are the Enemy's objectives located? Are they adequately protected by your forces? If you prevent the incursion from the North, will you expose the Western flank?

    The offensive has begun. You will need your wits about you to try and out maneuver the Enemy forces as they attack from all sides. You must return to the War Room throughout the campaign to check your progress, monitor your sortie rate, record which enemy EWR sites are active, study the loss densities around your borders and confirm your objectives.



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