ABSTRACT
In recent years, deception has come to be recognized almost universally as a force multiplier. Deception almost always yields substantially greater benefits than expected, and the cost of deception is usually far less than we have generally been led to believe. Even at its most costly, deception need not divert more than a very small fraction of the available combat force from the real target. This holds true for the whole range of operations from grand strategy to minor tactics, for conventional and unconventional operations, and for all terrains. Deception has at least an 80 percent chance of yielding surprise, and the payoffs for surprise are impressively high. Surprise multiplies the chances for quick and decisive military success, whether measured in terms of explicitly sought goals, ground taken, or casualty ratios. Deception is seemingly never contraindicated or dysfunctional in the economics of war.
