Contextual Evolution of Hybrid Warfare and the Complexities

Abstract

On September 14, 2019, at 4.00 am, Saudi Arabia suffered a deadly attack on its Aramco owned oil facility at Abqaiq and Khurais oil field, with, as has been stated in a version, a swarm of 18 small drones and seven cruise missiles. Very highly protected and fortified facilities, in addition to armed guards, the area had six battalions of Patriot defence systems, Oerlikon GDF 35mm cannons equipped with the Skyguard radar and Surface-to-Air- Missiles (SAMs). The targets were designated with pin-point accuracy and, hence, the strikes were most effective. They destroyed nearly 50 percent of the country's global supply of crude. The crude prices rose sharply in the International market that saw the US Secretary of State proclaiming it was an “act of war”– yet without a declaration of war. By exactitude, the perpetrators were unidentified, even the trajectory of the flights of the missiles and drones could not be ascertained; only remnants of the Yemeni Quds 1 missile were displayed. The conjectures are aplenty – from drone swarms, to cruise missiles, to stealth aircraft, and even ground action! It is also a fallout of the usage of modern war weaponry: plausible deniability! This is a manifestation of the 21st century's hybrid warfare.