New era of warfare

Today, 9 April, is officially the Day of Valor. Today, we commemorate the heroism of our forefathers who defended the country from the Japanese invasion in 1941, valiantly fought in Bataan and Corregidor, and continued to fight the invaders until the latter surrendered on 15 August 1945.

It was a different world, a different war then. Conventional weapons were used. Today, the Russia-Ukraine war and the US-Israel war against Iran is showing us how warfare has changed considerably.

At this point of the US-Israel war against Iran, so much destruction has already been carried out against the latter, even though no ground troops have been deployed by the Americans and the Israelis. The fighting has basically been characterized by air and cyber warfare.

Early last month, the United States Central Command (Centcom) released a list of the weaponry being used in the conflict. They are B-2 stealth bombers, state-of-the-art fighter jets, EA-18G electronic attack aircraft, and MQ-9 Reapers, among others. Tomahawk cruise missiles, LUCAS one-way drones, M-142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems), Patriot and THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) batteries are also being employed.

Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (AWACS), along with airborne communications relay, maritime patrols, reconnaissance and cargo aircraft are likewise in use. Refueling assets are in support. US warships such as aircraft carriers and guided-missile destroyers play a vital role.

Israel, for its part, has been generally utilizing its advanced fighter jets, which are mostly US-made. They intercept Iranian missiles with their Iron Dome and David’s sling “Stunner,” the short-range and medium to long-range air defense systems, respectively.

Iran has been attacking with missiles and drones.

The war has not been limited to superior weapons systems. Both sides are employing cyber warfare in a scale never before seen.

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, told reporters that “coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively.”

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said they are using artificial intelligence and cyber tools in the war.

The Iranians have likewise been very active in conducting cyber operations against the US and Israel. Reports are that groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have attacked certain American industrial control systems, logged into industrial machines and installed malware, conducted cyber espionage against Americans in the defense sector for Iranian intelligence, among other things.

The Cyber Islamic Resistance claimed to have carried out an operation against an Israeli defense company’s air defense system, an attack on a drone detection service, and other cyber attacks against Israeli companies.

This new form of warfare should be an eye-opener for us. To defend our nation from external attack, we have to take a giant leap forward in science and technology. Though we realistically cannot approximate the weaponry of these warring nations, I am sure we can make a very good assessment of how we can strengthen ourselves with the resources available to us.

More importantly, we must have the will and the commitment to build up our defense capabilities immediately. In this new era of warfare, valor alone will not suffice.