FM-3-09 Fire Support and Field Artillery Operations Download
Page 112 of 256
Chapter 6 6-2 FM 3-09 30 April 2020 to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy's military surface capability before it can be used effectively against friendly forces, or to achieve enemy objectives (JP 3-03). The deep area is where the commander sets conditions for future success in close combat (ADP 3-0). Close combat is warfare carried out on land in a direct-fire fight, supported by direct and indirect fires, and other assets (ADP 3-0). A commander's deep area generally extends beyond subordinate unit boundaries out to the limits of the commander's designated AO. Refer to ATP 3-94.2 for greater detail on Deep Operations. 6-4. Enemy forces in the deep area are not out of contact in a multi-domain environment since space, cyberspace, and information operations have few range constraints. Deep operations disrupt the enemy's movement in depth, destroy HPTs, and disrupt enemy C2 at critical times. They can deny the enemy the initiative early and limit enemy commander options. 6-5. Joint and Army FS attack and delivery platforms are the most responsive assets an operational-level commander has to shape enemy forces and before they can employ lethal or non-lethal means against friendly forces. FS in the deep area might disrupt the movement of operational reserves, for example, or prevent an enemy from employing long-range cannon, rocket, or missile fires. Planning for operations in the deep area includes considerations for information collection, airspace control, joint fires, obstacles emplacement, maneuver (air and ground), special operations, and information operations. FS in the deep area is not a luxury; it is an absolute necessity to winning. FS in the deep area must be tightly coordinated over time with fires in the close area. Without this coordination, limited resources may be wasted on targets whose destruction in the deep area actually has little payoff in the close area. 6-6. Deep offensive fires may be used to limit the enemy's ability to shift forces to meet attacking friendly maneuver forces and to sustain the momentum of the attack. Deep defensive fires limit, delay, or disrupt the enemy's attacking echelons and FS, C2, communications, and logistics infrastructure including bridges and airfields. It allows the maximum weight of fire to be brought to bear quickly on the enemy's preparation for the attack and the assault. Regardless of the offense or the defense, the objective of deep fires is to functionally kill specific enemy capabilities which could affect the successful accomplishment of the maneuver commanders' objectives. 6-7. Corps headquarters and their FSEs play a significant role in physical and temporal deep area operations. Temporally, corps planners must project into the future and decide what conditions can be created and exploited to defeat the enemy and accomplish the corps mission. Corps deep operations are those activities which are directed against enemy forces not currently engaged in the close operation, but capable of engaging or inflicting damage in future close operations. Many of the FS and TA capabilities the corps requires for deep operations are not organic to the corps. As such, the corps headquarters coordinates for these joint and UA partner capabilities through planning and the targeting process. 6-8. Division deep operations, reinforced by corps and higher joint capabilities, focus on information collection, interdiction fires, and maneuver on enemy organizations and capabilities beyond the range of the BCTs engaged in close operations. They identify opportunities for BCTs to exploit, disrupt enemy C2, and mass effects against key enemy capabilities, such as long range fires, to enable rapid movement. Interdiction fires create windows for friendly unit offensive maneuver. 6-9. In general, corps deep operations occur beyond the area division can effectively employ its combat power. The extent to which a division conducts deep operations is limited in two ways: through the use of control measures and by the ranges of the capabilities it controls. Corps deep fires should facilitate division freedom of action in the close and deep areas. 6-10. It is important to clearly delineate corps and division FS responsibilities and focus in terms of time, space, and domains. Failure to do so leads to inefficient application of friendly TA and FS capabilities. Commanders use control measures, such as boundaries, FSCMs, and airspace coordinating measures, to assign deep operations and FS responsibilities to the appropriate echelons. 6-11. In the offense or defense, the commander attacks or defends in depth. Information collection adopts this principle by using a phased, echeloned approach to collecting information to satisfy requirements. Each echelon conducting information collection plays a critical role in the success of any military operation. In the offense and defense, units should use an intelligence handover line to effect the echeloned approach. The intelligence handover line is a control measure that establishes areas within which each echelon is responsible for collecting information. Intelligence handover lines are developed to deconflict collection efforts between