Army Intel Says Europe or Pacific Attacks Would Need Massive Logistics Operation

By Kris Osborn, President, Warrior

Artillery, fighter jet attack, maritime amphibious assault, long-range rocket fire and dismounted infantry assaults are all often discussed and heavily emphasized areas of warfare tactics, yet each of these are enabled by a lesser-recognized yet indispensable and impactful element of war …. Logistics.

Attacks can’t happen without ammunition, forces cannot advance without transportation supplies and food and armored vehicles cannot “move-to-contact” and breach an enemy’s perimeter formation without fuel, yet such necessities of war can easily get overlooked. However, it might not be too much of an exaggeration to posit that indeed the country which better manages and supports logistics and supply chains is far more likely to prevail in war, regardless of the relative lethality and effectiveness of its weapons.

A published US Army intel analysis makes the key observation that any future “Large Scale Combat Operation” with either Russia or China is expected to happen in either the European or Pacific theater, areas requiring a massive, secure and extended logistical effort. The farther away US forces need to “forward-deploy” and sustain combat operations, the more vital supply lines and logistical sustainment operations become with regard to large-scale, great power warfare.

The recent US Army intelligence analysis looked at the Ukraine war and other recent and ongoing conflicts to better anticipate the kinds of future warfare operational environments likely to emerge in the coming decade. The US Army Training and Doctrine Command’s analysis, called “The Operational Environment 2024-2034, Large Scale Combat Operations,” published findings and analysis resulting from extensive study and research regarding current combat environments

“The increased logistics requirements of LSCO will challenge Army sustainment operations, and adversaries will target those same operations from the Homeland to the battlefield,” the text of the report says.

Europe and Asia

Large-scale combat operations in Europe and the Pacific would each present a unique set of logistical challenges, in large measure because they are both far from the US homeland and likely to require protracted engagement in need of sustainment. Initially, each would require substantial forward deployment in the form of armored vehicles, ammunition and food and water sustenance for fighting forces. Europe would require extensive ground logistics support such as transportation vehicles such as tactical trucks and mobile ammunition stockpiles. A European theater conflict also require supply aircraft such as Air Force C-130s able to transport forces and critical supplies in high-risk, austere hostile environments under enemy fire. Perhaps of greatest importance, advancing forces would need a steady, secure supply of fuel and ammunition to support any ground-advance into Russia or Eastern Europe. These are precisely the kinds of operations likely to be targeted by adversaries, according to the Army report, which based its findings on extensive analysis of the ongoing Ukraine war.