Millennium Challenge 2002 ( Millennium Challenge 2002 ) - large-scale exercises conducted by the US Armed Forces in mid-2002. The scope of the exercises allows us to call them the largest budgetary in American military history. The exercises, conducted from July 24 to August 15 and costing the treasury $ 250 million, included both tactical exercises of personnel and computer simulations of military operations. MC02 was planned as a grand test of future military “transformations” - the transition to new network technologies of warfare, providing more powerful weapons and tactics. In a simulated clash, US forces were designated “Blue”, and an unknown Middle East representative was called “Red”.
Content
Training Course
The Reds, under the command of Lieutenant General of the Marine Corps (ret.) Paul K. Van Rieper , using old methods to evade the more advanced electronic tracking and targeting systems of the Blue, used signalmen on motorcycles to transmit orders to the front lines of defense, as well as light signals from the Second World War to launch aircraft in conditions of complete radio silence.
The Reds received an ultimatum from the Blues, which in fact required their complete surrender within 24 hours. Having received intelligence about the approach of the Blue fleet, the Reds used a fleet of small vessels to determine the location of the Blue ships on the second day of the exercises. After that, the Reds launched a massive preemptive strike with cruise missiles at the Blue’s naval formations, causing an overload of their air defense / missile defense systems and conditionally destroying 16 ships, including an aircraft carrier, 10 cruisers and 5 out of 6 landing ships. The equivalent of such success in real hostilities would have led to the deaths of more than 20 thousand personnel. Soon after the first strike, a significant part of the Blue forces was conditionally sunk by the Reds, who used kamikaze tactics along with the classic military operations, the actions of which the Blue could neither reflect nor predict. [one]
At this point, the exercises were suspended, the forces of the “Blue” were “revived”, and the rules of the exercises were changed. Subsequently, it was justified by General Peter Pace as follows: “You killed me on the very first day of the exercises and I can sit for 13 consecutive days just like that; or you can return me to the system and then I will receive 13 days of training. Which is better? ” [2] After the reboot, both parties were ordered to follow a specific scenario, designed in such a way as to ensure the victory of the“ Blue ”.
Among the other requirements included in the script was a prescription for the Red forces to obligatorily activate all the radars of air defense systems so that the Blues could destroy them. At the same time, the Reds did not have the right to shoot down transport aircraft that delivered the Blue forces to the landing site. [3] Van Rieper stated that the organizers of the exercises actually rejected the possibility of using his experience and tactics against the Blue forces, demanded that the Reds not use certain weapons, and even ordered the Blue to disclose the location of certain Red forces. [4] All this led to accusations that the teachings from fair fighting aimed at testing the combat effectiveness of American formations turned into a strictly controlled sequence of actions, guaranteed to lead to the victory of the US forces in a certain scenario [3] , which meant "a completely useless waste of 250 million dollars. " [five]
Consequences
Deeming unacceptable his participation in fully staged exercises, Van Rieper resigned. Later, he expressed concern that the essence of the fighting games was distorted and aimed only at strengthening the impression of the existing military doctrine and the opinion of the infallibility of the US military leadership, and not to gain new experience.
Van Rieper also said that the course of the exercises was controlled so as to create the appearance of a modern military concept of the use of all military branches. [4] As the ZDF quoted The New York Times in the documentary The Perfect War [6] - during MC02, he saw the same Department of Defense approach promoted by Robert McNamara many years ago during the Vietnam War , namely, that the US Army cannot under any circumstances be defeated.
In response to Van Rieper’s criticism, Vice Admiral Marty Mayer, who conducted the exercises and was responsible for developing the concept and requirements for joint action by the various armed forces, said: [4]
General Van Rieper, apparently, felt too tight. I can only say that there were certain areas in which it was not limited, but there were also those where restrictions were really present so that certain experiments and exercises could be carried out.
Navy Capt. John Carman, spokesman for the Allied , said the exercises appropriately confirmed all the basic concepts used by the Blue forces, ignoring the artificial restrictions imposed by the Red forces under Van Rieper’s leadership, which and led them to success. Based on this, John Carman stated that recommendations from these exercises in areas such as doctrine, training, and material support would be transferred to General , chairman of the high command. [four]
Press Reactions
When Iranian vice president threatened to cut off oil supplies during the 2011–2012 Hormuz conflict , Christian Science Monitor cited these exercises, expressing the view that Iran does have a well-honed asymmetric response strategy. [7]
Links
- ↑ Arquilla, John, “The New Rules of War” Archived on October 7, 2012. , Foreign Policy, March / April 2010.
- ↑ Borger, Julian (2002-09-06). "Wake-up call . " The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-05-12
- ↑ 1 2 Rumsfeld's War Games Archived on May 4, 2006. . Military.com. 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2012-01-03
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 “War games rigged? General says Millennium Challenge 02 'was almost entirely scripted' . ” 2002-08-26. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
- ↑ The Immutable Nature of War . Nova. PBS
- ↑ "New York Times Television Co-Produces News Documentary The Perfect War with Germany's ZDF . " Business Wire. 2004-03-23.
- ↑ Peterson, Scott (January 26, 2012). "How Iran could beat up on America's superior military . " Christian Science Monitor: p. 2. "America's defense budget is roughly 90 times bigger than Iran's. But Iran has a well-honed strategy of asymmetric warfare. ”