Surprise as Principle of War

1. The element of surprise in warfare has been used as an effective tool since
ancient times. All the ancient writings on Principles of War by Sun Tzu, Antoine-Henry
Jomini and Carl von Clausewitz included surprise as principle of war. However, after
the two world wars big military powers i.e., USA, UK, Russia and China documented
their principle of war and gave the due importance to surprise as principle. Surprise in
military arena may be defined as To attack the enemy at a time, at a place, or in a
manner for which he is unprepared1. Surprise is a principal of war in British military
documents and defined as the consequence of shock and confusion induced by the
deliberate or incidental introduction of the unexpected2.

NATO and Afghan security forces inspect the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday,
September 16, 2014.

1
USA Army Field Manual FM-3 Military Operations
2
British Defence Doctrine (BDD), The 2011 edition
How to Achieve Surprise

2. Surprise is a most effective and powerful instrument in war and its moral effect is
enormous. There are various types of measures and methods for achieving a surprise
attack i.e., Time, Place, Mass, Quality and Tactics3. All of these measures are achieved
by use of secrecy, originality, audacity, speed, concealment and deception, terrain and
weather, change of measures and methods, etc. Surprise occurs when time runs out,
and the military is not fully ready to fight. Although the surprise phenomenon is evident
in virtually all military operations, certain forms of warfare totally depend upon it. Raids
and ambushes, for example, rely entirely upon the power of surprise for success. If the
enemy instead perceives the raid or ambush too early, the tables are turned and
disaster follows. Every endeavor must be made to surprise the enemy and to guard
against being surprised.

US security forces ambushed by the Iraqi insurgents on March 31, 2004

3
Dr. Joseph West, Principles of War, 1989, Combat Studies Institute U.S. Army Command and General
Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
Purpose of the Surprise Attack

3. The surprise attack in warfare is launched for two purposes, firstly with an aim of
devastation of the enemy's intangible combat power through psychological impact and
lowering of morale. Secondly, with an aim of destruction of enemys tangible combat
power (personnel and equipment) by making the application of this power difficult for
enemy.

Surprise in Modern Warfare

4. Some experts have suggested that with the dawn of information age and cyber
warfare with its ubiquitous sensors and computer networks, that surprise will no longer
be possible. As we have seen in recent operations of Iraq and Afghanistan, exactly the
reverse has happened. Coalition forces in Afghanistan were able to knock down the
Taliban regime by attacking in a way that the enemy was not prepared for. But after the
major combat operations were over in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enemy improved their
tactics and pursued methods of attack that surprised the Coalition forces. The ongoing
campaign of ambush and counter-ambush in Afghanistan and the insurgency in Iraq
capitalizes on surprise. This war on terror exemplifies that the enemy no matter how
weak is also able to achieve surprise, even against an ultra modern, equipped with state
of the art arsenal, well trained and experienced coalition forces. Suicide attacks, road
side bombs, Car bombs, urban ambushes, and sniping introduced a type of warfare for
which the American-led coalition was not ready.

5. Critically analyzing the examples of recent wars, we find an enduring truth that
surprise is a viable principle of war and still retains significant value among the
principles of war.4 Strategic surprise is increasingly difficult in the information age.
However, operational and tactical surprise remains undiminished and by exploiting
pervasive awareness, a flexible, creative military commander should always find
opportunities to strike at a time, in a place and in a manner that an opponent cannot

4
Lt. Cdr. Robert R. Leonhard, Surprise, Armchair General, 2006, New York
predict.5 Mastery of the art of war is based upon expertise in the fundamentals of
surprise. The successful commander of the future will be the one who can envision
slackness of enemy and figure out a way to attack it while marinating the element of
surprise. Total words 701

5Lt. Cdr. Christopher E. Van Avery, 12 New Principles Of Warfare,

http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/12-new-principles-of-warfare/, July 1, 2007.