Fire power

Fire power is, by its strictest definition, a "military capability to direct force at an enemy." It is not to be confused, as it often is, with the concept of rate of fire which describes the cycling of the firing mechanism in a weapon system. The concept is also taught as one of the key principles of modern warfare, wherein the enemy forces are either destroyed or have their will to fight negated by sufficient — and preferably overwhelming — use of force as a result of combat operations.

Through the ages, fire power has come to mean offensive power applied from a distance, as there is an immediate dissonance with the thought of one-on-one close quarters combat. Fire power is thus something which is employed to keep the enemy forces outside such ranges where even opponents having superior numbers can be either defeated in detail, or be sapped of their will to continue combat, and thus surrender to the force projecting greater fire power.

The term fire power is also commonly used to describe the collective offensive capabilities of a military force.

History

The earliest forms of warfare that might somewhat correctly be referred to as fire power were the slingers of ancient armies (the biblical David being one notable example) and archers. Eventually, the Huns would employ the composite bow in combination with light cavalry tactics to shower arrows on the enemy forces. This tactic also appeared in a less mobile form in Britain, with its famed longbowmen, used during the various Anglo-French conflicts collectively known as the Hundred Years' War during the Middle Ages. The Battle of Crécy is often thought of as the beginning of the "age of firepower" in the west, where missile weapons enabled a small force to defeat a numerically superior enemy, with little if any need for single combat. Firepower was later used to dramatic effect in a similar fashion during the Battle of Agincourt.

Later examples

The use of firepower in achieving military objectives became one of several conflicting schools of military thought, or doctrines. The Battle of Vimy Ridge used massed artillery to help secure the victory of the advancing Canadian forces, but dramatic improvements in siege weapon technology had also gone hand in hand with small scale infantry tactics. Operation Desert Storm also relied on massed firepower, as did the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, but firepower was integrated with advances in small-unit training.

Further reading

• Bidwell, Shelford and Dominick Graham. Fire Power: The British Army - Weapons and Theories of War, 1904-1945 (ISBN 978-1844152162)

References

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