ABSTRACT
Interdicting Warsaw Pact follow-on forces has long been a central element of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) operational strategy. Warsaw Pact follow-on ground forces are a critical component of their offensive concepts. Soviet strategy is truly based on a combined arms concept - it links in-contact forces, follow-on ground forces and air power. New and continuing advances in conventional munitions technologies provide one of the most promising means to enhance NATO force effectiveness for the attack of follow-on forces by creating obstacles to their movement and by improving NATO direct attack capabilities against Warsaw Pact units. In the NATO Central Region, obstacle-producing munitions could have significant utility. In the area of bridge destruction, guided air-delivered bombs or missiles obviously have great utility. Real-time target acquisition and attack systems should be developed to monitor and exploit the opportunities provided by the minefields. The emerging munitions technologies of chief interest are “smart” submunitions with improved antiarmor warheads and autonomous target-sensing capabilities.
