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Militære operasjoner er i vedvarende endring, hvor en sentral utviklingstrend er bruk av tekniske hjelpemiddel. Dette har medført nye og mer effektive samhandlingsmåter og en påfølgende økning i innslag av fellesoperasjoner. Oppgaven handler om hvordan denne utviklingstrenden påvirker den operasjonelle ildstøttens bidrag til at landmakten kjerneoppdrag – å finne, binde og ramme motstan- deren. Dette tilnærmes gjennom å undersøke hvordan innføringen av digital kommunikasjon påvir- ker det operasjonelle ildstøttesystemets potensial for å skape effekt i det militære spillerom.

Oppgavens undersøkelse viser at digital kommunikasjon gir ytelsesforbedring gjennom kompresjon av tid, hvilket i tur muliggjør situasjonsspesifikk styrkemultiplikasjon gjennom ekspansjon av rom. Samtidig indikeres det at situasjonsspesifikke kombinasjoner operasjonell ildstøtte har potensial for 3x ytelsesbedring og opp til 9x styrkemultiplikasjon, hvilket betyr at man kan bruke mindre ressurser for å oppnå samme effekt eller de samme ressurser for å oppnå en større effekt! Realisering av potensialet for styrkemultiplikasjon setter økte krav til den metodiske målbekjempningsprosessen og da spesielt kunnskap om egne muligheter og begrensninger. Dette handler om operasjonskunst og peker på viktigheten av systemkompetanse i planlegging og utførelse av operasjoner.

Innføring av digital kommunikasjon må ses i sammenheng med hvordan pågående utviklingstrend skyver på det operasjonelle ildstøttesystemets sosio-tekniske balanse. Forståelse av fenomenet blir derfor viktig for videre funksjon- og kapabilitetsutvikling.

U.S. doctrines have introduced a third approach within Operational Art, called the design approach, which has evoked military professional and academic debate as well as influenced NATO doctrines. Allied Joint Doctrine for Operational-level Planning (AJP 5) states that a Force Commander should choose one out of three approaches when conducting Operational Art and conducting operational planning: a traditional (causalist), a systemic or a design approach. The difference between the causalist- and the systemic- approach concerns the clash between reductionism and holism, but the difference between the design- and the systemic- approach is methodologically vague. Hence the following question concerning methodology and Operational Art arises:

What methodological implications could constitute an argument for choosing the design approach when conducting Operational Art within a battlespace?

Neither NATO doctrine, planning framework nor previous research offer any explicit methodological argument for choosing, or preferring, the design- over the systemic- approach. This article concludes that one possible argument for preferring a design approach is adherence to value-focused thinking, but this requires that the Force Commander can and is willing to focus on stakeholders’ values within the battlespace. This conclusion is implied by two methodological implications identified and discussed in this article. If the design approach is to be a relevant option, then further conceptual development, experimentation and education is required. To conclude, NATO should review the description of their approaches within Operational Art since the argument for preferring one approach over another is lacking and this could hamper the Force Commander’s management of the battlespace.

Parts of NATO’s contemporary planning framework called the comprehensive operations planning directive (COPD), and parts of the operation-level planning process should be revised since they suffer from methodological inconsistency. This claim is defended by discussing contradicting methodological properties and heuristics applied when framing and managing a military problem in accordance with the COPD. The methodological inconsistency within the COPD; in other words, simultaneously applying contradictory methodological properties, implies one theoretical and three practical implications. The theoretical implication is summarised in a meta-theoretical framework and explained by discussing five methodological properties: non-linearity, emergence, independently changeable generalisations, invariance and boundaries. The three practical implications of methodology imply that methodology is guiding: the problem-frame, conceptual development and action. To improve military planners’ understanding and management of these four identified implications, NATO is recommended to develop a “handbook of methodology.” The purpose of such a handbook should be to emphasise the utility of methodology when planning military operations

The purpose of this study was to study medical incident commanders experiences of decision-making under demanding conditions within the special major incident medical management- and support team. The research questions consisted of which aspects medical incident commanders experienced as unfavorable and favorable for decision-making under demanding conditions. A total of 13 medical incident commanders were interviewed semi-structured with the support of the Critial Decision Method. The interview material has been data processed through a thematic analysis. This resulted in two main themes with seven subthemes that describe unfavorable and favorable aspects of medical incident commanders decision-making under demanding conditions. The main conclusion of this study is that experience is beneficial for decision making under demanding conditions. The other unfavorable and favorable aspects stand in contrast to each other.

Security and sustainability are prioritized goals in the “Western liberal” world. Maintaining democratic resources while simultaneously strengthening society’s ability to deal with security issues frmly resonates with ideals associated with social sustainability. However, merging normative theories like security and social sustainability produces conceptual difculties that are hard to resolve. Based on key literature in this feld and policy documents from the UN, this article uses conceptual analysis to investigate what boundaries and openings three distinct perspectives of the connection between social sustainability and security might produce. The perspectives chosen as illustrative tools are paradox, co-production, and deconstruction. The paradox perspective pronounces inherently divergent qualities of sustainability and security, which implies a trade-of situation. In contrast, the co-production perspective views social sustainability as a critical component in security issues, while security, in turn, is a prerequisite for sustainability. A third perspective, deconstruction, highlights underlying processes that produce and prioritize specifc meanings. The perspectives of paradox, co-production, and deconstruction identify how competing values operate in conceptual confgurations, highlighting the limitations and possibilities of security measures to accommodate values of social sustainability. Applying distinct approaches as illustrations for disparate ideological standpoints can deepen the knowledge of how multiple and occasionally competing outcomes are formed while considering the normative foundations enfolding inquiries of security responses to societal challenges

Deterrence is the backbone of military strategy. Dissuading an opponent from taking a specific action by threat of violence is the definition of deterrence. From the outset of the Cold War there has been a strong link between the study of deterrence and game theoretic analysis. There are compelling epistemic reasons for studying deterrence as a game. By doing so, the strategic interaction between actors is placed at the centre of the analysis, mapping the possible outcomes and revealing the strategies available to the actors. Discussions about various models’ appropriateness and model comparison therefore play a central role in deterrence research; from underlying assumptions and deterrence representation to theory and evidence. This dissertation treats aspects of all of these topics. Article I, “Prospects of Deterrence – Deterrence Theory – Representation and Evidence”, analyses the relationship between model and theory and what happens to a deterrence theory when the rationality assumption is switched to a prospect theoretical utility function. Article II, “A Misfit Model – Bounded Rationality and Deterrence Representation”, defends and remodels Schelling’s idea of irrational threats for effective deterrence. Article III, “Comparable Deterrence – Target, Criteria and Purpose”, treats the issue of how one can compare game theoretic models with one another and proposes a meta-model for how this can be done. Article IV, “Deterring the Dauntless – Appraising the Effects of Naval Deterrence against the Somali Piracy”, estimates whether and to what extent Somali piracy was deterred by the naval intervention.

To deter is central for strategic thinking. Some of the more astute observations regarding the dynamics of deterrence were made during the Cold War by game theorists. This set the stage for how deterrence has come to be studied. A strong methodological element like the research on deterrence’s reliance on game theory requires examination in order to understand what sort of knowledge it actually yields. What sort of knowledge does one acquire when deterrence is viewed through game theoretic models? How do they inform us about the phenomenon of deterrence? To understand the nature of a phenomenon through models requires idealization, which in turn presupposes assumptions. This licentiate thesis investigates the type of knowledge we attain when approaching deterrence from a game theoretic perspective. The two articles presented address two separate but related issues. The first article reviews a debate regarding which deterrence model best capture the phenomena of deterrence, i.e. how models can be compared to one and other. The article presents a framework for comparing models and then appraises how these different deterrence models inform us about deterrence. The second article uses one of the more central deterrence models in order to evaluate how and to what extent the naval operation Atalanta managed to deter the Somali piracy.

Logistic Culmination – One or Two Sides of the Coin?

An Observation From a Different Point of View

Logistic culmination can be compared to a stretched rubber band. If combat units moves in direction away from the supplies the rubber band will gradually stretch. The rubber band will eventually burst and at that point the logistic culmination will be a fact. But if the rubber band was to be let go before bursting, it will instead be contracted. At the maximum contraction point the rubber band will for a split second be wider. Could this metaphor show that there exists an opposite way of reaching logistic culmination?

This essay borrows an old culmination concept from astronomy and utilizes it within logistic culmination. Astronomic culmination has two underlying perspectives, the upper and lower culmination point, in contrast to logistic culmination which only has one perspective. These two points are connected by being each other’s opposites.

By setting the current meaning of logistic culmination as the upper culmination point the author aims at finding out the lower culmination point and examines the connection between these two points.

The examination is built on a statement that there exist two underlying perspectives within logistics, just as in astronomy with the upper and lower culmination point. If the examination of the concept will succeed a wider understanding of how logistic culmination occurs could be achieved. If the lower logistic culmination point can be verified it could mean that logistic culmination within military science can change, which also could affect military planning.

The statement taken has with logic assumptions showed that there are two underlying perspectives in logistics just like astronomy. Logistic culmination as it is explained today has given only half of the meaning compared to how this concept ought to be viewed according to this essay. This essay gives the concept logistic culmination more precision compared to the former meaning.