View source for Offensive (military)

{{History of war}}
An '''offensive''' is a [[military operation]] that seeks through an aggressive projection of armed forces to occupy territory, gain an [[military objective|objective]] or achieve some larger [[Military strategy|strategic]], [[Operational warfare|operational]], or [[military tactics|tactical]] [[strategic goal (military)|goal]]. Another term for an offensive often used by the media is '[[invasion]]', or the more general 'attack'.

The offensive was considered{{when|date=December 2018}} a pre-eminent means of producing victory, although with the recognition of a defensive phase at some stage of the execution.<ref>p.220, Glantz</ref>
 
A quick guide to the size or scope of the offensive is to consider the number of troops involved in the side initiating the offensive.

Offensives are largely conducted as a means to secure initiative in a confrontation between opponents. They can be waged on land, at [[Naval offensive|sea]]<ref>Edward Wegener; Henning Wegener, The Soviet Naval Offensive: An Examination of the Strategic Role of Soviet Naval Forces in the East-West Conflict, Naval Institute Press, 1976</ref> or in the [[Air offensive|air]].

[[Naval offensive]]s, such as the Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], can have wide-ranging implications for national strategies and require a significant [[military logistics|logistical]] commitment to destroy enemy naval capabilities. It can also be used to [[maritime interdiction|interdict enemy shipping]], such as [[Battle of the Atlantic|World War II's Battle of the Atlantic]]. Naval offensives can also be tactical, such as [[Operation Coronado IX|Operation ''Coronado IX'']]<ref>p.135, Fulton</ref> conducted by the [[United States Navy]]'s [[Mobile Riverine Force]] during the [[Vietnam War]].

An [[air offensive]] is an operation that can describe any number of different types of operations, usually restricted to specific types of aircraft. The offensives conducted with the use of [[fighter aircraft]] are predominantly concerned with establishing [[air superiority]] in a given air space, or over a given territory. A [[bomber]] offensive is sometimes also known as a [[strategic bombing]] offensive and was prominently used by the [[Allies (World War II)|Allies]] on [[Strategic bombing during World War II|a large scale]] during [[World War II]].<ref>Longmate, pp.309-312</ref> Use of [[ground attack aircraft]] in support of ground offensives can be said to be an air offensive, such as that performed in the opening phase of the [[Red Army]]'s Operations [[Operation Kutuzov|''Kutuzov'']] and [[Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev|''Rumyantsev'']], when hundreds of [[Il-2]] aircraft were used en masse to overwhelm the [[Wehrmacht]]'s ground troops.

==Theatre offensive==
A '''[[Theater (warfare)|theatre]] offensive''' can be a [[war]] and a dominant feature of a national security policy, or one of several components of war if a country is involved in several theatres such as the United Kingdom in [[Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II|1941]]. In general theatre, offensives require over 250,000 troops to be committed to combat operations, including combined planning for different arms and services of the armed forces, such as for example air defence troops integrated into the overall plan for ground operations.<ref>Isby, p.52</ref>

==Strategic offensive==
A '''strategic offensive''' is often a [[Military campaign|campaign]], and would involve use of over 100,000 troops as part of a general [[Strategy]] of the conflict in a given theatre. For example, the [[Operation Barbarossa]] was a theatre offensive composed of three distinct and inter-related campaigns in the Southern, Central and Northern parts of USSR territory. [[Soviet Armed Forces|Soviet]] strategic offensive operations during World War II often involved multi-[[Front (Soviet Army)|front]] coordinated operations. Along with the [[Wehrmacht]] operations on the [[Eastern Front of World War II]], these were the largest military operations of the twentieth century. [[Strategic operations of the Red Army in World War II]] provides a listing of large-scale Soviet operations.

A strategic offensive is the aggressive expression of war planning and use of strategic forces as a whole, combining all resources available for achieving defined and definitive goals that would fundamentally alter the balance of power between belligerents.<ref>p.8, Glantz (1991)</ref> However, the planning and execution of strategic offensives are always based on theoretical considerations because it is impractical, uneconomic and difficult to hide a full-scale rehearsal of large-scale operations.

A strategic offensive consists of simultaneous, tandem or phased operational offensives that seek to achieve specific operational objectives that eventually lead to the achievement of a strategic goal, usually a complete defeat of the opposition, but also destruction of a significant enemy force or occupation of strategically significant territory, such as the [[Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation]].<ref>page xvii, Glantz (2003)</ref>

Any given strategic offensive is a derivative of a combination of factors such as national military doctrine, past military experience, and analysis of socio-political, economic and military circumstances.<ref>p.8, Glantz (1991)</ref>

==An offensive==
An offensive is a conduct of combat operations that seek to achieve only some of the objectives of the strategy being pursued in the theatre as a whole. Commonly an offensive is carried out by one or more [[division (military)|divisions]], numbering between 10–30,000 troops as part of a [[combined arms]] [[operational mobility|manoeuvre]].

==See also==
{{Portal|War}}
* [[The best defense is a good offense]]
* [[Charm offensive]]
* [[Military operation]]
* [[Offensive jihad]]
* [[Pre-dawn raid]]
* [[Charge (warfare)]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
* Glantz, David M., ''Soviet military operational art: in pursuit of [[Deep operations|deep battle]]'', Frank Cass, London, 1991 {{ISBN|0-7146-4077-8}}
* Glantz, David M., ''The Soviet strategic offensive in Manchuria, 1945: August storm'', Frank Cass, London, 2003
* Fulton, William B., Major General, ''VIETNAM STUDIES RIVERINE OPERATIONS 1966-1969'', DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, U.S. Government Printing Office, WASHINGTON, D. C., 1985
* Longmate, Norman. ''The Bombers''. Hutchins & Co, 1983. {{ISBN|0-09-151580-7}}.
* Isby, David C., ''Weapons and tactics of the Soviet Army'', Jane's Publishing Company Limited, London, 1981

==External links==
* [http://www.virtuescience.com/why-advance.html Tactical Reasons to Advance]

[[Category:Military theory]]
[[Category:Military strategy]]
[[Category:Military tactics]]