Weapons covered by this term include 'tube' artillery such as the howitzer, cannon, mortar, field gun, and rocket artillery. In rural areas, an armored vehicle does not have to worry about hidden units though muddy and damp terrain that have always been a factor of weakness for tanks and vehicles.ДЄrtillery in contemporary times is distinguished by its large caliber, firing an explosive shell or rocket, and being of such a size and weight as to require a specialized mount for firing and transport. In urban areas, because of smaller space, an armored vehicle is exposed to hidden enemy infantry but as the so-called 'Thunder Run' at Baghdad in 2003 showed, armored vehicles can play a critical role in urban combat. They are invulnerable to enemy machine gun fire but prone to rocket infantry, mines, and aircraft so are usually accompanied by infantry. Tanks or other armored vehicles (such as armored personnel carriers or tank destroyers) are slower, yet stronger hunks of metal.

Usually having a type of rifle or sub-machine gun, an infantryman is the basic unit of an army.ДЄrmored warfare in modern times involves a variety of armored fighting vehicles for the purpose of battle and support. Infantry in modern times would consist of mechanized infantry and airborne forces. Ground warfare involves three types of combat units: infantry, armor, and artillery. The blurring of lines between state and non-state is further complicated in a democracy by the power of the media. Fourth generation warfare usually has the insurgency group or non-state side trying to implement their own government or reestablish an old government over the one currently running the territory. Classical insurgencies and the Indian Wars are examples of pre-modern wars, not 4GW. While this term is similar to terrorism and asymmetric warfare, it is much narrower. Fourth Generation wars are characterized by a blurring of the lines between war and politics, combatants and civilians, conflicts and peace, battlefields and safety. The simplest definition includes any war in which one of the major participants is not a state but rather a violent ideological network. Hammes, used to describe the decentralized nature of modern warfare. ДЇourth generation warfare (4GW) is a concept defined by William S. In other senses, it is tied to the introduction of total war, industrial warfare, mechanized warfare, nuclear warfare, counter-insurgency, or (more recently) the rise of asymmetric warfare also known as fourth-generation warfare.

In its widest sense, it includes all warfare since the 'gunpowder revolution' that marks the start of early modern warfare, but other landmark military developments have been used instead, including the emphasis of artillery marked by the Crimean War, the military reliance on railways beginning with the American Civil War, the launch of the first dreadnought in 1905, or the use of the machine gun, aircraft, tank, or radio in World War I. In its narrowest sense, it is merely a synonym for contemporary warfare. As such, it is an evolving subject, seen differently in different times and places. Modern warfare is warfare that is in notable contrast with previous military concepts, methods, and technology, emphasizing how combatants must modernize to preserve their battle worthiness.

World in conflict modern warfare