The comparison of attrition to maneuver warfare as described by Grant Hammond in The Mind of War. Based on the work and briefings of Colonel John Boyd.
| Attrition Warfare | Maneuver Warfare | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | On Battle: fielded forces, force ratios and loss ratios; quantity | Enemy's cohesion: mental, moral, physical stability; quality |
| Emphasis | Military capability, planning: overwhelm by superiority, mass | Trust, innovation, speed: win by OODA (observe, orient, decide, act) loop dislocation |
| Nature | Hierarchy | Network |
| Style | Integrative, centralized, competitive, prescriptive, standardized | Decentralized, distributed, collaborative, adaptive, unique |
| Means | Destruction of adversary forces and war-waging ability | Creation of perception that adversary cannot win |
| End | Destruction of adversary | Creation of new paradigm |
| Examples | Napoleon, Grant, D-Day, US in Vietnam | Hannibal, blitzkrieg in 1940, Viet Cong-NVA against US |
| Requirements | Massive firepower, technology, industrial might, centralized control | Trust, professionalism, individual leadership |
| Risks | Asymmetric threats, collateral damage, duration, sustainment, casualties | Dependent on individual initiative, high morale, accurate assessments, creative responses, difficult to infuse |
| Characteristics | War is Jominian, a science, quantifiable, systematic | War is Clausewitzian (note: perhaps Sun Tzu-ian is a better description), an art, qualitative, nonlinear |