The nature of war has changed a lot since the end of the 19th century. It was the proliferation of scientific inventions after this. The added new dimensions to the way battles were fought. This has led to new categories of military conflict, air and guerrilla warfare, being added to the traditional classifications see in continental warfare.

The basic ideas of the four types of warfare are very similar to each other. In sea warfare, the establishment of exploitation of control of sea routes and see channels are often very crucial for the establishment of air and land power. It’s for this reason that the United States and the USSR maintained large naval fleets in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Regarding in control of sea routes are also a portal for the procurement of movement of supplies and troops both in peace and wartime. Boss, the United States, in spite of occasional international protests, still maintains a strong naval presence in the Middle East.

Similarly, in aerial warfare the control of airspace is essential to control on land. However, there is no practical way to prevent the enemy from attacking your forces except to destroy his air power before he has a chance to strike. To have command of the air, therefore, needs to be in a position to prevent the enemy from flying or retaining the ability to fly yourself. The scramble for air control has led to many developments in air craft and related technology such as air surveillance systems, sophisticated air to air missiles and air refueling stations.

In continental warfare, terrain dictates the type of battles that can befall, the types of weapons to be used, the number and types of troops needed in the nature of deployment. Today more and more sophisticated weaponry has been developed for ground battles. Some of these help overcome the limitations imposed by the terrain. However, in the final analysis, to capture the objective, it is the enemy that one has to face, no matter who he is.

Finally, into guerrilla warfare, winning a decisive battle might not be the immediate objective. Instead small units are allowed to act independently to inflict a heavy as fragile peace on the enemy’s forces, as well as the lower the enemies morale. Such a strategy is useful when the enemy has a larger force and provided the drain allows the conduct of such warfare. The Vietnam War is probably the best example of guerrilla warfare at its most effective. Despite the superior strength in numbers and weaponry, the United States lost the war. The main reason – they were unable to fight a protracted campaigns of the real warfare that was waged by the Vietcong.

In the art of war the principle of choice of battleground states that the component to winning war is to ensure the battleground is more advantageous to your own army than the enemies. This entails at least two elements – the need to create distinct advantages, such as being the first to occupy key points.

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