“There has been a renaissance in special warfare over the past decade. Raids can buy time to allow the indirect approaches to work, but ultimately its special warfare and the indirect approach which helps us reduce longer-term risk. So this becomes even more important as we look out into the future,” Thomas added.
Referring to the air-ground coordination and SOF involvement during the onset of the war in Afghanistan, Thomas said that “in a mere 60-days, a very small U.S. force, coupled with an Afghan force, was able to depose the Taliban and destabilize the al Qaeda elements in the country.”
The report focused on Anti-Access/Area-Denial challenges, essentially the realization that the U.S. no longer enjoys the same degree of technological global superiority it grew accustomed to as recently as ten years ago.
Today, the proliferation of precision-guided weapons such as long-range ballistic missiles, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), cyber, space and electronic warfare capabilities of potential adversaries makes it much harder for U.S. forces to be able to “project power” and ensure access to strategically vital areas, such as islands, coastal waterways and forward locations.
A2/AD pushes conflict to the periphery, thus requiring a circumstance wherein SOF forces will need to strengthen alliances with strategically vital friends and allies and invest in technologies which extend range for communications, weaponry and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, Thomas explained.
“As power projection becomes more difficult, we have far less flexible conditions for conducting flexible deterrence options and conducting a forward presence as we did in the past,” Thomas said. “With respect to disrupting Anti-Access/Area Denial networks, we really looked and saw that Special Operations Forces are probably one of the most viable power-projection options the U.S. will have in coming years.”
For instance, stealthy well-inserted SOF forces could help disrupt command and control and ISR systems used by a potential enemy, thereby better enabling higher-signature, conventional forces the ability to enter an area, Thomas explained.
One analyst said that, given its history of operating behind enemy lines, the SOF community would be well suited to expand these kinds of mission roles.