My worst fear: Mass comms loss

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Eboreg
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Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2019 10:35 pm

My worst fear: Mass comms loss

Post by Eboreg »

You know, I lie awake at night wondering what I'll ever do if the enemy starts jamming my comms or employs an EMP to knock them out.

Okay, not really but it's something I've never faced in-game which I feel is a bit of a missed opportunity. I've got to be quite blunt, every time I've lost comms with one of my own units, it's been as a result of battle damage which only very mildly changes my tactics in response to the affected unit (and sometimes, not at all). The reason I'm posting this is because I can't help but wonder if there are any community scenarios out there where the player has to work through mass comms loss or at least request the production of such a scenario. At the very least, I would like to know how real-world militaries are dealing with the prospect of their communications getting jammed especially in the modern era of network-centric warfare.
DWReese
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RE: My worst fear: Mass comms loss

Post by DWReese »

I don't know of any, but they aren't that difficult to make. I have a few of my own scenarios that I play around with that do that. Also interesting, is if you add actual satellites to your scenario. They can spot things (such as in the South China Sea) that virtually makes EVERYTHING as if it is auto-detectable. It is the flip side of loss of comms. <lol>
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SeaQueen
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RE: My worst fear: Mass comms loss

Post by SeaQueen »

The problem is that the game doesn't really model C2 for the player. In C:MO, the player doesn't necessarily represent a single commander. In practice, the player usually fills the role of a whole committee of people on multiple levels of the C2 network. Depending on the scope of the scenario, there could be many different systems involved. One of the advantages of the simulation is that it is doctrine neutral so you're not slaved to a particular C2 model, nor are you restricted to a particular scope for a scenario. That means the committee of people you represent as a player isn't the same from scenario to scenario. That means that there isn't a natural single path (or even set of paths) of communications between the player sending commands and directing forces, and the units on the screen. That means there's no systems to correspond to those paths. Since those comms aren't modeled, that means it's impossible to jam those comms or otherwise neutralize important C2 nodes in a way which makes the player's job significantly more difficult. In that sense it doesn't capture the kind of real life friction that does make a difference.

The comms that ARE modeled on some level are the comms between units. That effects primarily how targeting and IFF information is passed around the networks of units. This is important if you're using tactics which depend highly on networked units, for example leveraging cooperative engagement capability extensively. Also, through the clever use of sides, you can create C2 networks which pass tracks around in specific ways and in that way deny one side access to "the big picture." This has downstream effects in the form of OODA loops, redundant targeting, etc.

Does that help? So if a weapons system has few or no sensors, and the sensors it does have are of limited capability, but lots of communications equipment, it's a good candidate for something which could be massively effected by loss of comms in complicated ways.
ORIGINAL: Eboreg

You know, I lie awake at night wondering what I'll ever do if the enemy starts jamming my comms or employs an EMP to knock them out.

Okay, not really but it's something I've never faced in-game which I feel is a bit of a missed opportunity. I've got to be quite blunt, every time I've lost comms with one of my own units, it's been as a result of battle damage which only very mildly changes my tactics in response to the affected unit (and sometimes, not at all). The reason I'm posting this is because I can't help but wonder if there are any community scenarios out there where the player has to work through mass comms loss or at least request the production of such a scenario. At the very least, I would like to know how real-world militaries are dealing with the prospect of their communications getting jammed especially in the modern era of network-centric warfare.
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