“Gray zone” challenges have been defined by the U.S. SOCOM as “competitive interactions… that fall between the traditional war and peace duality,”* going beyond normal international interactions yet falling short of overt military force. When a country is faced with the need to counter gray-zone operations, it is typically faced with military target ambiguity and the need to have a proportionate response. There is little margin for error – an unintended injury or casualty could dramatically escalate international tensions.
Non-kinetic weapons may provide a useful proportional alternative to our conventional kinetic capabilities. Join us for a conversation on the potential application of directed energy to some of the unique challenges presented by gray-zone scenarios.
