Robert S. Dean · 7 March 1991 · reply to #2198
> In a recent note, Robert S. Dean asked whether high-tech worlds would
> bother having ground forces, since such worlds are not likely to see
> large ground battles, and whether low-tech worlds would bother having forces
> at all, since they would not be of much use against attack from higher-tech
> neighbors.
Close. Actually, I recognize the probable need for infantry/security/military
police troops regardless of tech level. I just think that at TL15, say, that
those all purpose undersea to orbit grav vehicle are going account for 90% of
your 'army' budget.
> Dealing with the high-tech case first, remember that in the world today
> most national armies exist with the primary function of either protecting
> the government from its own citizens or for controlling the government. Very
> few nations have the ability to conduct protracted military operations beyond
> their own borders. Thus ground forces for internal security could be very
> sizeable, and not just in a balkanized situation. Governments in which the
> military is the final judge of political conflict (a la Chile, Argentina,
> Brazil), governments where the military is split along political lines and
> thereby maintains some sort of balance of power (China, perhaps), governments
> where different military branches are an important part of the federal system
> (USA), all of these would necesitate sizeable ground forces even if there was
> no threat from outside. This ignore governments of planets in rebellion and
> pure military government, as well as feudal government.
Agreed. But I'm still curious about particulars. Take TL15 again. First,
would many/most/all governments be willing to use FGMP-15 battledress equipped
infantry for crowd control? What about armored vehicles? What does "very
sizeable" work out to in terms of population or GNP percentage? If weapons
were tightly controlled, one battledress equipped infantryman would be capable
of suppressing hundreds or thousands of ill-armed citizens in unrest
(assuming you'd be willing to flame down ritoers, say, en masse).
> I myself wondered about the utility of low-tech armed forces for a while,
> but now think I have a justification for them. They are there to protect
> the planet from casual interference, not from determined attack. Think about
> the walls that midieval towns had, and the town levies. Not particularly
> useful against military attack, but useful against bandits, pirates, and
> roving vagabonds (i.e. most traveller players). They also perform(ed) an
> important psychological role when dealing with higher authority, giving the
> people a certain sense of independence.
>
But would we see these forces armed with indigenous weapons, or would they
feel it was better to import a "token" quantity of high-tech equipment, along
with the technicians to maintain it, or perhaps even hire mercenary units
already trained in the appropriate tactics? A shipload of TL11 Vargr pirates
is going to be an armful for a TL5 planetary army, when the Vargr infantryman
can wear armor that can only be penetrated by the local artillery. (I know, I
know--Traveller has a serious armor/penetration imbalance in favor of the
defense.)
I like the psychological angle, although I think it still might tend to
manifest in the form of highly equipped (though perhaps not well trained or
maintainable) "palace guards" rather than masses of TL6 armored divisions.
Rob