Suicide attacks, ambushes, hostage-taking, improvised explosive devices, piracy and

guerrilla warfare, are all characteristics of modern insurgencies. Also known as fourth

generation conflicts, these wars not only occurred in Afghanistan, Mali, Iraq, Libya, but

also in the former Yugoslavia and in Algeria, which was one of the French Army's first

modern testing grounds.

To confront these particular types of operations, regular armies must develop

new ways of operating that are effective enough to cause opponent losses, while

remaining proportional and not effecting the civilian population, among whom battle

takes place. Under these conditions, there is a place for artillery - despite its reputation

of being a weapon of brutality par excellence.

One telling statistic from Afghanistan: 80 % of all enemy losses were caused

by indirect fire (close air support, attack helicopters and artillery) and the artillery itself

was responsible for almost half of the insurgent dead and wounded in the French area

of operations. Yet, the gunners only represented 7 % of the deployed French force! In

terms of cost-effectiveness, these figures speak for themselves.

Drawing on dozens of operational vignettes, the book demonstrates that a

counter insurgency can be won using innovative tactics; such as faints, rouses and

deception along with more traditional methods like destruction, harassment and isolation.

Although often underutilized in the former, the Artillery proved itself to be ruthlessly

effective when employed in an asymmetric manner.