Docent Dr Mikael Weissmann

Hybrid Threats | Psychological Defence | Intelligence analysis | Technology & Defence | Modern Warfare | Urban Warfare | Staff Rides | Wargames | China and the Indo-Pacific | the Balkans

Category: Land Warfare

Affiliated with the Swedish Defence University’s Centre for Wargaming

By

On 15 December 2024

In Land Warfare, Professional Military Education (PME), Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning, War Games, Wargames

As of 1 December, I am pleased to share that I have become an Affiliated Researcher with the Swedish Defence University Centre for Wargaming (CWG). The CWG is dedicated to advancing wargaming-based education, research, and methodology, providing valuable support and expertise to both the academic community and the broader security sector. I look forward to contributing to their efforts and engaging with colleagues and partners in this field.

More information on the centre can be found here: https://www.fhs.se/en/swedish-defence-university/collaboration/specialized-centres/center-for-wargaming.html

Presentation on Urban Warfare and Ukraine at the ISMS Annual Conference 2024

By

On 9 September 2024

In Conference, Land Warfare, Urban Warfare

From 10-12 September, the Swedish Defence University is hosting the International Society of Military Sciences (ISMS) Annual Conference 2024, with the theme “Scaling up, Learning Lessons, Ensuring Quality.”

I am pleased to present on “Reevaluating Urban Warfare: Lessons and Strategies from the Ukraine Conflict” together with Prof. Douglas W. Winton from the Dwight D Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University, US.

This presentation explores critical lessons from the Ukraine conflict and proposes strategic insights to rethink urban warfare in the light of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

I look forward to discussing these findings and contributing to the broader conversation on war studies, operations and tactics during the conference.

International Society of MilitarySciences Conference 2024

By

On 6 September 2024

In Conference, Hybrid Threats, Intelligence Analysis, Land Warfare, Professional Military Education (PME), Psycological Defence, Russia, Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning, Urban Warfare

From 10-12 September the Swedish Defence University is host for the International Society of Military Sciences (ISMS) Annual Conference 2024. This years theme is “Scaling up, Learning Lessons, Ensuring Quality.”

I am co-chairing WG 1: War Studies, Operations and Tactics with LtCol Dr Lars Henåker. The program contains a range of interesting papers and presentations on the themes WAR IN UKRAINE, OPERATIONAL ARTS AND STRATEGY, INFORMATION SPACE AND THE COGNITIVE FRONTIERS OF WARFARE, and HYBRID/PRIVATE/AI. Conference Program

I am presenting three papers:

“Reevaluating Urban Warfare: Lessons and Strategies from the Ukraine Conflict” co-authored with Prof. Douglas W. Winton of the Dwight D. David Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University, US.

“From Battlefield to Classroom: Incorporating War Games and Staff Rides in Professional Military Education (PME) to enhance Urban Combat preparedness” co-authored with
Major Jonas Björkqvist of the Land Operations Division, Department of War Studies, Swedish Defence University

“Operationalizing Psychological Defense: A framework for assessing, addressing and evaluating hybrid threats in democratic societies”, discussing the findings of the report Building Resilience and Psychological Defence – An analytical framework for countering hybrid
threats and foreign influence and interference which I have co-authored with Björn Palmertz, Lund University Psychological Defence Research Institute, Docent Niklas Nilsson, Swedish Defence University and Dr Johan Engvall, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies.

Tentative Field Study – the Battle of Ortona and Four Perspectives on Urban Warfare

By

On 15 January 2024

In Land Warfare, Professional Military Education (PME), Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Urban Warfare

On 3-7 January 2024 Major Jonas Björkqvist (Land Operations Division) and I conducted a tentative field study studying the Battle of Ortona 1943 and Orsogna, Villa Rogatti och Sterlin Castle. The aim is to enhance the inclusion of urban warfare in our teaching, staff ride & wargame repertoire. The study is part of curriculum development projects for the Swedish Officers Program and the Joing Higher Command and Staff program.

We are now working on a staff ride field guide with the title The Battle of Ortona: Four Perspectives on operations in urban terrain to be published later this year.

Major Björkqvist is also developing a new card-driven map-based war game on the Battle of Ortona to be used in connection with future staff ride to Ortona as part of Professional Military Education (PME) with a focus in particular on officer cadets and senior officers.

default

Study Tour to Georgia with the Higher Joint Command and Staff Programme 11-20 Oct 2023

By

On 22 October 2023

In Land Warfare, Professional Military Education (PME), Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning, Visit

On 11-20 Oct 2023 we undertook a study tour to Georgia with our Advanced Course on Ground Tactics in the Higher Joint Command and Staff Programme. During this week we met with our Georgian counterpart and key institutions in Tbilisi. We also visited the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to learn more about their work.

Staff Ride Op. Market Garden & Op. Veritable with Land Operations Division of the Swedish Defence University

By

On 21 September 2023

In Land Warfare, Staff Ride

On 18-21 September Major Jonas Björkqvist (Land Operations Division), Patrik Wiklund (Military History Division) and I led a Staff Ride to the Netherlands and Germany studying Operation Market Garden and Operationn Veritable. This tour was part of the skill development of the Land Operations Division at the Swedish Defence University. Besides studying the two operations, the aim was to test a new pedagogical approach to Staff Rides and to study the new Swedish Army Tactical Regulations.

Wargaming Skåne (Southern Sweden)

By

On 25 June 2023

In Land Warfare, Professional Military Education (PME), Staff Ride, Staff Ride, Teaching and Learning

Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of a wargame in Sweden that was part of an elective course on Land Operations in our Higher Joint Command and Staff Programme taking place in Skåne in the south of Sweden. It was an intense learning experience that required careful planning and tactical thinking from our students.

NEW BOOK: Advanced Land Warfare: Tactics and Operations

By

On 18 April 2023

In Land Warfare, Publication, Urban Warfare

My new co-edited volume on Advamced Land Warfare: Tactics and Operations is just out on Oxford University Press. Download full volume or chapters here: https://academic.oup.com/book/45784  (OPEN ACCESS)

The book:

  • Zeroes in on the evolving role of land forces, focusing particularly on the changes that have taken place in the art of commanding and executing combat and on the role of rapid technological innovation and information dissemination in shaping warfare
  • Revisits established military theory and thinking (some of it neglected in recent years) with lessons learned from contemporary land warfare
  • Provides various perspectives on key contemporary developments in land warfare, while also presenting case studies on land tactics and operations in different national contexts
  • Draws on the knowledge and insights of leading scholars of war and senior officers to provide a current understanding of the central issues of land warfare
  • Explores how land forces remain a crucial feature of warfare as evidenced by recent wars in Ukraine, Syria, Mali, Yemen and Nagorno-Karabak

Table of Contents

Foreword, Dr Meir Finkel
1:Approaching Land Warfare in the 21st Century, Dr Niklas Nilsson and Dr Mikael Weissmann
Part 1: Land Warfare
2:The Future of Manoeuvre Warfare, Dr Christopher Tuck
3:Commanding Contemporary and Future Land Operations: What Role for Mission Command?, Dr Niklas Nilsson
4:Combat Logistics in the 21st Century: Enabling the mobility, endurance, and sustainment of NATO land forces in a future major conflict, Dr Christopher Kinsey and Colonel Ronald Ti
5:The Command of Land Forces, Jim Storr
6:Tactical Tenets: Checklists or Toolboxes, BA Friedman and Henrik Paulsson
7:Urban Warfare: Challenges of Military Operations on Tomorrow’s Battlefield, Dr Mikael Weissmann
8:Emerging Technologies: From Concept to Capability, Dr Jack Watling
9:Interoperability Challenges in an era of Systemic Competition, Air Commodore (Rtd) Andrew Curtis
10:The moral component of fighting: Bringing society back in, Dr Tua Sandman
11:Military Health Services supporting the Land Component in the 21st Century, Gen (Rtd) Professor Martin CM Bricknell
Part 2: Case studies
12:The Operational Cultures of American Ground Forces, Dr Bruce I. Gudmundsson
13:1. People’s Liberation Army Operations and Tactics in the Land Domain: Informationized to Intelligentized Warfare, Brad Marvel
14:A Strategy of Limited Actions: Russia’s Ground-Based Forces in Syria, Dr Markus Balázs Göransson
15:The Role of Israel’s Ground Forces in Israel’s Wars, Dr Eado Hechet and Dr Eitan Shamir
16:Tactics and Trade-Offs: The Evolution of Manoeuvre in the British Army, Dr Alex Neads and Professor David J. Galbreath
17:Caught between a rock and a hard place: the French army, expeditionary warfare and the return of strategic competition, Dr Olivier Schmitt and Dr Elie Tenenbaum
18:Trends in the Land Warfare Capability of Poland and the Visegrad States, 1991-2021, Scott Boston
Conclusions
19:Towards a versatile edge: Developing land forces for future conflict, Dr Mikael Weissmann and Dr Niklas Nilsson

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén