Wedelstaedt2025
| Wedelstaedt2025 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | INCOLLECTION |
| Key | Wedelstaedt2025 |
| Author(s) | Ulrich von Wedelstaedt |
| Title | Killing from a Distance: Insights into Contemporary Warfare with Video Analysis |
| Editor(s) | Ajit Singh, Christian Meier zu Verl, René Tuma |
| Tag(s) | EMCA |
| Publisher | Routledge |
| Year | 2025 |
| Language | English |
| City | London |
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| Pages | 135–153 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781003279259-12 |
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| Book title | Video-Analysis and Knowledge on Rewind: Contributions to Social Theory and the Sociology of Knowledge |
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Abstract
This chapter examines how modern communication technology influences soldiers’ interaction and cohesion in combat. While there are persistent claims about new forms of warfare deriving from the usage of new (especially imaging) technologies, the relevant question remains how these changes might influence small groups of people fighting together. Using footage from Apache combat helicopters during different types of missions (reconnaissance, close air support, etc.), this chapter analyses communication between pilots, gunners, ground troops, and command stations to explore how remote engagement impacts operational dynamics. By analysing transcripts, it shows that, despite high-tech video feeds, verbal communication remains crucial to transform visual inputs into actionable information for mission execution. New technologies might redefine combat at a glance, but the almost mundane, embodied routines, and communicative skills of soldiers matter most in these settings, suggesting that warfare cohesion under tele-mediated conditions hinges on these adaptive interactions.
Notes
