Fifth generation warfare

Where Third generation warfare is Maneuver warfare and Fourth generation warfare is Netwar, 5GW is Secret War. 5GW is a logical addition to the Generations of Modern warfare framework.

5GW is performed by super-empowered individuals and very small /dispersed networks. It is possible that a 5GW groups will be the result of emergent/Leaderless resistance behavior. The 5GW group is separate from the State(and perhaps not known to the state or its leaders). 5GW/SecretWar will be waged on the behalf of the state or an idea/Meme(s) or the small 5GW group itself. The fifth generation rides on the trend of the state loosing the monopoly of power, and the legitimacy of the state itself being called into question. The prevalent form of state the nation-state, is also changing with a market-state concept starting to emerge.

Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) is a new and evolving concept. Some would say it doesn’t exists, or it just 4GW misunderstood or applied in a new / different / expected way. William S. Lind, one of the fathers of 4GW and the Generations of Modern War framework, does not think 5GW is emerging yet [1].

There is much discussion still as to the characteristics of 5GW – there is no definitive statement or definition.

5GW Related to the OODA Loop

Blogger TDAXP mapped the Generations of Modern War to the OODA Loop [2]. Fifth Generation Warfare attacks the Observation part of the OODA – its focus the intellectual strength of an opponent.

How 5GW Is Implemented

«Operations such as Pakistan have shown that we are not just about classical warfighting. The Alliance will leverage this ability to produce results in the less-than-war spectrum of operations.»

General James ("Jim") L. Jones - who serves both as the highest ranking military officer at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), NATO’s HQ, and as the commander of the United States European Command (EUCOM), 2006-01-10

5GW will be heavy on the infiltration and redirection of the state, institutions, non-state network, and 4GW movements (for changing the mental / intellectual / observation of the target before orient and decide).

Direct Action in 5GW would be limited to the manipulation/redirection of 4GW groups, and small “it looked liked an accident or infighting” assassinations on future-leaders or existing important (to the opposition) human network nodes.

5GW should be able to use at least one magnitude less human resources to accomplish the same things as 4GW.

Time-spans for 5GW war may be longer then that of 4GW wars. This is still being discussed.

The 5GW planning phase will be long, but 5GW tactical operations will be small, have short timespans, and be numerous (to avoid detection). This has also been called "Boiling the Frog 5GW-style"[3].

Blogger Zenpundit puts it best:
5GW is conceived in terms of strategic vision over an even longer time frame [referring to 4GW], sometimes before an opponent realizes that they will be an opponent but the execution time may be very short in comparison to 4GW. The operative question is probably whether the attacker or the defender has initiated 5GW - once you are already attacked you have missed your opportunity to shape the battlespace.

5GW and Secrecy

SecretWar obviously requires secrecy to be successful. Since knowledge of the 5GW will often resemble weird conspiracy theories, 5GW practitioners will use that to their advantage to discredit and marginalize those that might be starting to recognize the 5GW movement. Most societies will by default consider evidence of 5GW as nonsense or wacko/crazy conspiracy thought and dismiss it. In well run 5GW, the entity that is the target, may not (nor ever) realize it is at war. Exposure of the existence of the 5GW movement will preclude it from acting effectively and will most likely cause its destruction.

Planning 5GW

Blogger TDAXP [4] determined that 5GW planning will follow a Waterfall model:
"In other words, a fifth generation war is a lot like a struggling software project at a cash-strapped corporation. It needs to keep its head down, or it will be found-out and terminated. The solution is to have a collection of cross-specialist high-quality workers who know each other and make every worker a stakeholder -- that is, make every worker feel that at least some important decisions were his decision. The team, is able to subvert the corporate system, diverting resources for the benefits of the project under the radar of jealous management."

"The team plans, analyzes, and plans together. While there should be a "leader," consensus management is a must. Every team member is constantly reminded, in words and deeds, how important he is. Team and project loyalty are established, and by the time jealous management learns of the project -- after implementation, it is too late."

5GW and Conspiracy Theories

A 5GW operation will create conditions and contingencies to avoid detection by hiding among the crazies. I can see where parts of the operation might purposely be exposed and then linked with false information and crazy theories to discourage real investigation. Knowledge of 5GW theory among ConspiracyTheoryBuffs will just re-enforce their irrational views making it easier for 5GW operators to hide their activities. All of this is aimed at the observation part of the OODA loop of the opponent.

Offensive 5GW by States

States may engage in offensive 5GW as a means of combatting 4GW opponents (states have only so-so records fighting 4GW against 4GW opponents).

It is also possible, that a state might use 5GW to soften up a state competitor in advance of 4GW or Conventional war. The book Unrestricted Warfare, though not using the term 5GW, discussing activities that could be considered state-initiated 5GW.

Examples of 5GW

Control and redirect the activity of a 4GW group for a separate purpose[5]

Infiltrate the cultural and learning institutions of an enemy over time to change the enemy’s future generations.[6]

Assassinations of the opponent’s potential future leaders or key current social network nodes. The assassinations will not look like outsider assassination: e.g. car accidents, drug overdoses, mugging gone bad, heart attacks, in-fighting/civil war.

Criticism of 5GW Concept

William S. Lind, one of the fathers of 4GW and the Generations of Modern War framework, does not think 5GW is emerging yet [7].

See also

• Secrecy

External links

• Fifth Generation Warfare – Patriot Post
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*[http://zenpundit.blogspot.com/2005/07/unto-fifth-generation-of-war.html] *[http://zenpundit.blogspot.com/2005/07/fifth-generation-war-in-ooda-loop-dan.html] *[http://zenpundit.blogspot.com/2005/10/5gw-revolutions-myke-cole-consultant.html]

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Discussion The article's discussion page is transcluded below Article not deemed fit for Wikipedia Here is the deletion debate for this article. __Meco 10:00, 7 March 2007 (EST) Stolen This is swiped from Wikipedia. — This unsigned entry was written by 67.53.130.226 (talk page · contributions) 18:54, 1 September 2007 (UTC) Comment from original author I found this comment on the article from September 2007 by the article's original author. __meco 07:30, 27 June 2008 (EDT)