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A counterforce target is an element of the military infrastructure, usually either specific weapons or the bases that support them. A counterforce strike is an attack that targets those elements but leaving the civilian infrastructure, the countervalue targets, as undamaged as possible.
The rationale behind countervalue targeting is that if two sides have both achieved assured destruction capability, and the nuclear arsenals of both sides have the apparent ability to survive a wide range of counterforce attacks and carry out a second strike in response, the value diminishes in an all-out nuclear war of targeting the opponent's ...
Countervalue – The opposite of counterforce; targeting of enemy cities and civilian populations. Used to distract the enemy. Decapitation – Achieving strategic paralysis by targeting political leadership, command and control, strategic weapons, and critical economic nodes
The ever-expanding target lists were split into classes of targets, with a wider range of plans matching strikes to political intentions from counterforce to countervalue, or any mix/withhold strategy to control escalation. Schlesinger described the doctrine as having three main aspects:
Targeting should make it very explicit that the first requisite is selective retaliation against the enemy's military (i.e., tailored counterforce). Some targets and target classes should not be struck, at least at first, to give the opponent a rational reason to terminate the conflict.
Nuclear utilization target selection (NUTS) is a hypothesis regarding the use of nuclear weapons often contrasted with mutually assured destruction (MAD). [1] NUTS theory at its most basic level asserts that it is possible for a limited nuclear exchange to occur and that nuclear weapons are simply one more rung on the ladder of escalation pioneered by Herman Kahn.
Chinese salami slicing strategy; Choke point; Christmas tree (aviation) Citadel; Clear and hold; Coalition war; Conventional warfare; Counter-offensive; Counterforce; Countervalue; Culminating point; Cult of the offensive
Targeting is the process of selecting objects or installations to be attacked, taken, or destroyed in warfare.Targeting systematically analyzes and prioritizes targets and matches appropriate lethal and nonlethal actions to those targets to create specific desired effects that achieve the joint force commander's (JFC's) objectives, accounting for operational requirements, capabilities, and the ...