I’ve always been interested in military tactics but I’ve never quite been satisfied with what I’ve read to date. Recently I picked up Full Spectrum Warrior for the Xbox, an urban tactical infantry warfare sim based on an Army training aid for squad leaders.
I’ve noticed that smoke grenades come in quite handy to avoid having to waste ammo on suppression fire, but I wonder about the usefullness of these grenades in real life. Why wouldn’t the enemy just lay down fire through the smoke cloud if they knew at some time in the near near future my team would be crossing behind it? I would imagine it would be good against a lone sniper but against an enemy with a SAW, I’d have to wonder. How often are smoke grenades used, say in Iraq, and when are they most often employed?
Also, does anyone know a website or book that gives details on a plan to capture part of a hypothetical/real life city (ideally with maps) with an emphasis on why the particular assault plan and tactics were chose?
They don’t know for sure that your forces will ever cross behind it. Smoke is also effective when you are pulling your forces out entirely or are moving in an entirely new direction. You may have thrown a smoke grenade to the right and are now flanking around a building to your left. There are times when using suppresive fire through a smoke screen might make logical sense, but often it is just a waste of ammo and a good way to reveal your own position.
When you HAVE to cross an open area, and you KNOW there are bad guys you can get you crossing, then the smoke adds the element of uncertainty for the enemy. They don’t see you, and their fire would be less accurate. They may not know how many people you have, which direction you are going, what equipment or weapons you are carrying, yadda, yadda. Smoke puts up a visual barrier to one side (say, North), leaving the other three cardinal directions open to observation. It works well in MOUT (Military Operations in Urbanize Terrain) since streets typically channel fire and observation along axes. SAWs should not fire continuously, lest they overheat and stop working altogether. Sustained fire is only 85 rounds per minute, and a belt is only 200 rounds.