Does Human Will Truly Outmatch the Might of Military Technology in War?
OR humans merely pawns in the hands of military technology?
Technology has played a crucial role throughout military history, accelerating the defeat of one side or changing the balance between two belligerents. However, technology has never won wars. General Vo Nguyen Giap stated: “In war, there are two factors – human beings and weapons. Ultimately, though, human beings are the decisive factor. Human beings! Human beings!” This statement has a robust connection to the nature of war, which revolves around will—human will! As Carl von Clausewitz famously said: “War is an act of violence intended to compel our opponent to fulfill our will.” Technology in war plays the role of a supplement, but the final decision on how to employ technology always lies in human will.
Vietnam War and Technology
General Vo Nguyen Giap has every right to be mentioned in this text and in many others, particularly in terms of countering technologies. As a representative of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), first fighting the French and then the Americans, he lost many battles against the far more technologically developed Americans. However, the NVA achieved a strategic victory. Despite enormous casualties and technological inferiority, the will to fight, the will to impose its will, was far superior in the NVA than in the Americans. This story illustrates how ultimate will and strategic vision can surpass technological innovations of one's enemy. It is, however, just one example and one perspective on technology; there are more!
WWI and Technology
There is a widespread opinion that tanks, as a technology, revolutionized WWI by breaching trench warfare, providing soldiers with both speed and protection. However, the tank itself wasn't the primary breakthrough in WWI; rather, it was the employment and tactics that were the real game changers. As I will discuss in greater detail later, once a technology invented by one side is captured and used by the enemy on the battlefield, its status as a "superior technology" is diminished, as both sides now have access to it. Tanks were akin to the horses used by conquistadors in the Americas. On the tactical level of warfare, intangibles play a role as crucial as tangibles, such as maneuver, mass, and firepower. Intangibles, such as shock, confusion, and surprise (which are moral factors), have a significant impact on the battlefield. Thus, the "horses of WWI," by their mere presence, induced what opponents referred to as "tank fear" or "tank fright." The legendary panzer general Heinz Guderian was fully aware of these intangibles caused by tanks and incorporated them into German doctrine. He considered the psychological impact of tanks on the enemy to be as significant as their physical destructiveness and mobility. Here, we can see that the adept employment of new technology concerned not only the tangible or physical side of the enemy but went further, particularly after its incorporation into doctrine, to the moral side.
Russian-Ukrainian War and Technology
The Russian-Ukrainian war is also called the Drone War due to the ubiquitous employment of drones. However, the widespread use of drones did not begin at the very start of the full-scale invasion but much later. Despite their extensive use, nothing has changed significantly for either side; neither has managed to effectively utilize them to achieve a breakthrough. Although Ukrainians are more adept at utilizing and more ingenious in designing new drones, this advantage is short-lived. As long as a drone is in the sky, the valuable technology is safe, but the downing of a drone provides a "gift" for Russians to disassemble and reverse-engineer the technology. This is not new in military history. A similar problem emerged with the German military forces when they developed the Knickebein system to navigate their Luftwaffe at night over the British Isles. The system was simple (perhaps even superficial), but it worked—for only 80 days. Unfortunately, during these 80 days, Knickebein inflicted significant destruction and wreaked havoc. However, the Germans' problem arose when they wanted to test it over Scotland, where the first plane was shot down. British scientific intelligence then started searching for a countermeasure, which was found and successfully employed against the German Luftwaffe.
Modern weapon systems, including drones, rely heavily on the communication of data, which can be intercepted, jammed, or spoofed by the enemy. The Russians and Ukrainians both face challenges in maintaining the effectiveness of their drone fleets due to these electronic warfare tactics. For instance, when a drone is launched, it initially operates effectively until the enemy starts to measure and counter its electronic signals. This degradation of reliability necessitates continuous updates to software, changes in frequencies, and even hardware modifications to keep the drones operational and effective on the battlefield. The Ukrainians, despite their innovative approaches and rapid adaptability, face limitations in scaling their drone operations due to their relatively small-scale production capabilities. This contrasts with the Russians' more centralized and slower but larger-scale implementation of new drone systems, which can cause significant problems until countermeasures are developed. The involvement of international support, particularly from the UK and other allies, in providing a large number of drones to Ukraine is crucial. However, the sustainability and effectiveness of these drones largely depend on the ability of Ukrainian engineers to update software, cannibalize components, and maintain the technological edge. This underscores the importance of the human element in warfare technology—engineers, operators, and planners—who ensure that the technology is employed effectively and can adapt to the evolving battlefield conditions.
Thus, while technology plays a significant role in modern warfare, its success hinges on the skillful employment, continuous adaptation, and strategic planning by human operators. The ability to quickly adapt to enemy countermeasures and effectively integrate international support are critical factors that determine the outcome of technological warfare, rather than the mere possession of advanced technology.
General thoughts on Military Technology
So, technology and innovation are crucial parts of defeating an enemy and ultimately winning a war, but they do not convert into victory alone. Human will and decisiveness are key components; without these, the war cannot be waged at all. Strategic vision must be present in every war; the absence of it could lead to situations like the American case in Vietnam, where America won every battle but lost strategically in the end. The employment of technology and tactics safeguards against randomly utilizing precious technology, making it efficient across all military units along the frontline, not just in isolated instances. Intangibles, though less visible, are not less important. They endow new technology with the ability to shock and confuse the enemy merely by its presence on the battlefield. Every technology should be updated timely to maintain its effectiveness and deny the enemy the opportunity to develop effective countermeasures. All these elements are vital to support new technology; the technology itself is not the savior or victor on the battlefield. Rather, it is a tool that, when wielded by skillful and determined human hands, becomes a force multiplier.
In conclusion, while technology and innovation are indispensable in modern warfare, their success is contingent upon human factors—will, strategic vision, adaptability, and skillful employment. These human elements are the true drivers of victory, turning technological tools into decisive assets on the battlefield. Thus, technology acts as a significant enabler, but it is the human spirit and intellect that ultimately determine the outcome of wars.