Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects.

Related Topics:
Warfare - Military

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Though the lower-echelon units of a combined arms team may be of homogeneous types, a balanced mixture of such units are combined into an effective higher-echelon unit, whether formally in a table of organization or informally in an ad hoc solution to a battlefield problem. For example an armored division -- the modern paragon of combined arms doctrine -- consists of a mixture of infantry, tank, artillery, reconnaissance, and perhaps even helicopter units, all coordinated and directed by a unified command structure. The mixing of arms is sometimes pushed down below the level where homogeneity ordinarily prevails, for example by temporarily attaching a tank company to an infantry battalion. Combined arms doctrine contrasts with segregated arms where each unit is composed of only one type of soldier or weapon system as to provide maximum cohesion and concentration of force in a given weapon.

Related Topics:
Infantry - Tank - Artillery - Reconnaissance - Helicopter - Command structure - Segregated arms

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