Description
This paper re-examines the role of the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) in contemporary counterinsurgency operations, focusing on its application in the war against Colombia’s FARC. Drawing on scores of interviews with former FARC commanders and retired Colombian military officers, it assesses the transformative impact of technological advances – particularly the use of airpower and covert GPS trackers hidden in items ranging from boots and radios to food and toiletries. While many scholars have dismissed the notion of a “revolution” in warfare as overstated or ineffective in irregular conflicts, this paper argues that the technological restructuring of Colombia’s military under Plan Colombia was a decisive factor in shifting the strategic balance. The US-funded turn to permanent, high-tech warfare reshaped the conflict’s terrain, placing insurgent forces under constant threat. In particular, the expansion of helicopter mobility, aerial surveillance, precision bombing, and dense tracking and intelligence networks rendered the FARC increasingly exposed and reactive. These operations permanently “hunted” the FARC from above, preventing the leadership from effectively leading, disrupting organisational cohesion, and sparking widespread demoralisation from within the guerrilla ranks. By analysing how the FARC became permanently vulnerable to aerial targeting – even in dense rainforest and adverse weather conditions – this paper contends that technological air dominance played a central role in pushing the group toward negotiations and eventual demobilisation.
