Metamorphosis of Warfare: War without Warriors or Battlefields

Abstract

While humans are imperfect, machines have their limitations, too. Though humans cannot match the speed and accuracy of machines, the ideology, pride and will to dominate and rule are qualities only attributed to humans. The latter’s capability to change and evolve, opens new vistas of opportunities, innovations, integrations, and alignments, such as to deceive, distract, and defile the most invincible assailant. In this context, the fifth generation warfare marks a shift from conventional Clauswitzian understanding of war to the battle of ‘information and perception’. As for the generational concept in warfare, it depicts the evolution of war tactics enabled by advances in science and the accompanying growth in the sophistication of warfare tools. Today warfare relies less on the use of brute force and focuses more on non-kinetic means such as narrative, perception management, and asymmetric conflict to achieve political ends. This paper looks at the evolution of warfare from first to fifth generation. It also explores the latest war trends in land and air warfare and analyzes the hybrid and ‘Everywhere Battlefield’, which though marks technical superiority, yet points to a decline in humanity and human values.