Strategic defence is a type ofmilitary planningdoctrine and a setdefense and/orcombat activities used for the purpose of deterring, resisting, and repelling astrategic offensive, conducted as either a territorial orairspace,invasion or attack; or as part of acyberspace attack incyberwarfare; or anaval offensive to interruptshipping lane traffic as a form ofeconomic warfare.
Strategic defense is not always passive in nature. In fact, it often involvesmilitary deception,propaganda andpsychological warfare, as well aspre-emptive strategies. All forms ofmilitary defense are included in the planning, and oftencivil defense organisations are also included.
Inmilitary theory, strategic defense thinking seeks to understand and appreciate the theoretical and historical background to any given war or conflictscenario facing thedecision-makers at the highest level. Therefore, to fully understand strategic defense activities, analysts need to have a detailed understanding of the relevantgeopolitical andsocioeconomic challenges and issues that faced thenation state or large organization being studied.
Some of the more common issues encountered by strategic defense planners include:
Strategic defense is also a predominantpeacetime posture of most nation-states in the world at any given time. Although nationalmilitary intelligence services are always conducting operations to discover offensivethreats tosecurity to ensure adequatewarning is provided to bring defense forces to a state ofcombat readiness.
In terms of combat scale, a strategic defensive is considered awar that can last from days to generations[1] or amilitary campaign as a phase of the war, involving a series of operations delimited by time and space and with specific major achievable goal allocated to a defined part of the available armed force. As a campaign, a strategic defence may consist of severalbattles,[2] some of which may beoffensive in nature, or may result in the conduct ofwithdrawals to new positions,encirclements, orsieges by the defender or the attacker as a means of securingstrategic initiative.
The strategic goal of a strategic defensive may require a conduct of an offensive operation far removed from the main national territory, such as the case with the 1982Falklands campaign, which sets logistics apart as the dominant consideration in strategic defensive as a doctrine.[3]
