Underkill Scalable Capabilities for Military Operations Amid Populations

by Gompert, David C.; Johnson, Stuart E.; Libicki, Martin C.; Frelinger, David R.; Gordon, John

• ISBN13: 9780833046840
• ISBN10: 0833046845
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-16
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

The U.S. military is ill-equipped to strike at extremists who hide in populations. Using deadly force against them can harm and alienate the very people whose cooperation U.S. forces are trying to earn. To solve this problem, a new RAND study proposes a continuum of force”—a suite of capabilities that includes sound, light, lasers, cell phones, and video cameras. These technologies are available but have received insufficient attention.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. iii
Figures	p. xi
Tables	p. xiii
Summary	p. xv
Acknowledgments	p. xxvii
Abbreviations	p. xxix
Introduction	p. 1
Framing the Challenge	p. 1
Current DoD Nonlethal Weapons Programs	p. 7
The Policy Setting	p. 11
The Void Between Lethality and Inaction	p. 11
Missions Sans Martyrs	p. 13
Non-COIN Missions	p. 15
Humanitarian Intervention	p. 16
Peacekeeping	p. 18
Protection of U.S. Personnel and Property	p. 20
Quelling Civil Disturbance	p. 21
Conclusions	p. 23
Possibilities	p. 27
Stretching Our Thinking	p. 27
Time, Knowledge, and Judgment Along the Continuum	p. 28
Nonmilitary Experience	p. 32
Technological Possibilities	p. 37
Taking Stock	p. 38
Requirements	p. 41
Developing Requirements	p. 41
The General Analytic Framework	p. 65
(1) Types of Persons Engaged	p. 65
(2) Numbers of Persons Engaged	p. 66
(3) Types of Effects Desired	p. 66
(4) Intensity of Effects Desired	p. 67
A Matrix of Requirements	p. 67
Confronting Uncertainty	p. 68
Initial Effects	p. 71
Decision-Making	p. 75
Analyzing the Scenarios	p. 77
Conclusions	p. 79
Technology Options	p. 83
The Active Denial System	p. 83
Tasers	p. 85
Dazzlers	p. 86
Femto-Second Lasers	p. 87
Sound Arrays	p. 89
Kinetics	p. 89
Tear Gas	p. 90
Anti-Electronics	p. 92
Flash-Bangs	p. 92
General Observations	p. 93
A Promising Approach	p. 95
Assessing the Alternatives	p. 95
A Promising Approach	p. 98
Adding an Information Component: Cell Phones and Video	p. 102
Political Realities, Reactions, and Risks	p. 105
Assessment	p. 109
Operation, Preparation, and Organization	p. 111
Notional Concept of Operation	p. 111
Preparation and Organization	p. 117
Feasibility, Integration, and Implementation	p. 123
Feasibility	p. 123
Integration	p. 125
Investment and Implementation	p. 127
Conclusion and Recommendations	p. 131
Bibliography	p. 135
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