Doctrine

Military Forum | The "Spear" and "Shield" of Low-Cost Operations

军事论坛丨低成本作战的“矛”与“盾”

PLA Daily (解放军报) 9 August 2026

Summary

A PLA military forum article lays out a doctrinal framework for 低成本作战 (low-cost operations), arguing that future warfare demands replacing mass-firepower logic with precision resource allocation on offense and distributed, mobile network defense in place of hardened fixed positions. The piece is standard doctrinal commentary rather than a report of exercises or policy decisions, but it documents how PLA writers are formalizing lessons from drone-heavy conflicts—particularly the shift from platform-centric to node-targeting offense and the 'dispersed over concentrated' defensive posture—into a coherent conceptual vocabulary. Whether this framing is driving actual force structure or procurement decisions remains unknown.

Translation

Low-cost operations are an inevitable product of the evolution of warfare. Their objective is to achieve maximum operational effectiveness at minimum resource expenditure, and to seize the initiative in war under conditions of limited resource constraints. In traditional warfare, the "forging" of the "spear" pursued overwhelming firepower, while the "raising" of the "shield" focused on hard protection—both following a construction logic of "high investment in exchange for high returns." In low-cost operations, however, the logic of offense and defense is no longer centered on the frontal confrontation of high-value equipment; instead, it exhibits distinct characteristics such as asymmetry and high cost-effectiveness ratios. As a result, the construction logic of war's "spear" and "shield" has undergone significant change. To win future wars and achieve victory on future battlefields, we must clarify the specific connotations of the "spear" and "shield" in the context of low-cost operations and their dialectical relationship, ensuring that we always "control the enemy rather than be controlled by the enemy (致人而不致于人)."

Achieving the greater with the lesser—the "spear" of low-cost operations. Building the offensive end of low-cost operations is, in essence, the ultimate pursuit of efficiency in the use of war resources, and the proactive construction of asymmetric advantages. Under traditional war logic, offensive capability and resource investment are linearly and positively correlated, and the generation of combat power is highly dependent on scale effects and generational technological gaps. Low-cost operations break this linear relationship, shifting the center of gravity for generating operational effectiveness from "the scale of resources" to "the precision of resource allocation," and from "the advantage of quantity" to "the strength of qualitative advantage." Whoever can achieve relative superiority at a limited number of critical nodes can tip the scales of victory and defeat, and achieve better operational results. Therefore, building the "spear" of low-cost operations means using precise resource deployment to form overwhelming superiority at local points, driving overall change through breakthroughs at individual points. First, it is necessary to achieve precise selection of operational objectives, adhering to the principle of "striking vital points and breaking systems (打要害、破体系)," concentrating limited operational resources on the key nodes and weak links of the enemy's operational system, and avoiding attritional warfare that spreads effort across all fronts. Second, it is necessary to achieve efficient combination of operational means, comprehensively employing multiple strike methods to form a multi-layered, multi-dimensional offensive fire configuration. Third, it is necessary to achieve active control of operational tempo, disrupting the enemy's operational rhythm and decision-making cycle through flexible tactical shifts and offense-defense gaming, striving to seize the initiative across a broader operational space at minimum cost.

Overcoming the hard with the soft—the "shield" of low-cost operations. In traditional defensive concepts, high-value operational targets such as command nodes, information nodes, and logistical support nodes are accustomed to "hiding" behind solid defensive fortifications to avoid enemy strikes. Low-cost defense takes a different approach: through distributed deployment strategies, it reduces the value weight of each operational node, weaving important operational nodes into a highly interconnected network such that even if a node is damaged, the relevant functions can be rapidly supplemented. Under these circumstances, the enemy's attacks are "as if punching cotton," and sustained high-intensity "punching" will inevitably exhaust their "stamina." At the practical level, the essence of low-cost defense lies in being "alive" rather than "stable," in being "dispersed" rather than "concentrated," and in being "mobile" rather than "static." On one hand, it is necessary to shift from concentrated deployment to dispersed configuration—through the high dispersion and flexible maneuver of forces and weapons, reducing the cost-effectiveness ratio of enemy strikes so that each enemy strike finds it difficult to achieve the expected results. On the other hand, it is necessary to shift from fixed positions to dynamic defense, abandoning traditional linear defense and positional warfare thinking, building a highly mobile defense system, and avoiding falling into the predicament of "being prepared everywhere yet being weak everywhere (无处不备而又无处不寡)," thereby adapting to the highly intense tempo of offense-defense transition.

The "spear" and "shield" of low-cost operations are not two isolated aspects but an organically unified dialectical whole—mutually dependent, mutually transforming, and co-evolving. From the perspective of the laws of war, relentless offense will inevitably become unsustainable due to continuous resource consumption, while relentless defense may result in the loss of initiative through passive punishment. Therefore, the way of low-cost operations is to achieve deep integration of "spear" and "shield," seek the optimal balance point, and ensure that the two are seamlessly connected and operate as one. First, it is necessary to carry out integrated design of the operational system—in operational planning, break down the boundaries between offense and defense, build an operational architecture that integrates offense and defense, enabling the same set of operational forces to both execute offensive missions and fulfill defensive functions, achieving efficient reuse of forces. Second, it is necessary to carry out dynamic allocation of operational resources—flexibly adjusting the distribution ratio of resources between the offensive and defensive ends in accordance with real-time changes in the battlefield situation, ensuring resource supply at critical directions and critical time nodes, and avoiding the idling and waste of resources. Finally, it is necessary to carry out integrated development of operational capabilities—promoting the mutual advancement and joint improvement of offensive and defensive capabilities, using the enhancement of offensive capability to drive improvement in defensive resilience, and using the consolidation of defensive capability to sustain offensive operations, so that limited war resources yield maximum overall effectiveness.

Original Chinese

低成本作战，是战争形态演进的必然产物，其目标在于以最小的资源消耗达成最大的作战效能，在有限的资源约束下谋求战争主动权。在传统战争中，“矛”的“打磨”追求压倒性火力，“盾”的“竖立”聚焦硬性防护，二者遵循“高投入换取高回报”的建设逻辑。但在低成本作战中，攻防逻辑不再以高价值装备的正面对抗为核心，而是呈现出非对称、高效费比等鲜明特征。由此，战争“矛”与“盾”的建设逻辑发生显著变化。打赢未来战争、制胜未来战场，必须理顺低成本作战语境中“矛”与“盾”的具体内涵及其辩证关系，确保始终“致人而不致于人”。以小博大——低成本作战之“矛”。打造低成本作战的进攻端，本质上是对战争资源运用效率的极致追求，是不对称优势的主动构建。传统战争逻辑下，进攻能力与资源投入呈线性正相关，战斗力的生成高度依赖规模效应和技术代差。低成本作战打破了这一线性关系，将作战效能的生成重心从“资源规模之大”转向“资源配置之精”，从“数量优势之多”转向“质量优势之强”。谁能在有限的关键节点上实现相对优势，谁就能撬动胜负天平，达成更好的作战效果。因此，建设低成本作战之“矛”，就是要通过精准的资源投放，在局部形成压倒性优势，以点上的突破带动全局的变化。一是要做到作战目标的精准遴选，坚持“打要害、破体系”，将有限的作战资源集中投向敌方作战体系的关键节点和薄弱环节，避免面面俱到的消耗战。二是要做到作战手段的高效组合，综合运用多种打击方式，形成多层次、多维度的进攻火力配系。三是要做到作战节奏的主动把控，通过灵活的战术变换和攻防博弈，打乱敌方的作战节奏和决策周期，力求以最小代价在更广阔的作战空间中占据主动。以柔克刚——低成本作战之“盾”。在传统的防御理念中，指挥节点、信息节点、后勤保障节点等高价值作战目标习惯于“躲”在坚固的防御工事后面，避免受到敌人的打击。低成本防御则另辟蹊径，通过分布式部署策略，降低各项作战节点的价值权重，将重要作战节点等织成一张高度互联的网络，即便是某个节点受损，相关功能也能快速补充。在这种情况下，敌方的攻击“仿佛一拳打在棉花”上，长期高强度“出拳”难免导致“体力”消耗殆尽。在实践层面，低成本防御的精髓在于“活”而非“稳”，在于“散”而非“聚”，在于“动”而非“静”。一方面要从集中部署向分散配置转变，通过兵力兵器的高度分散和灵活机动，降低敌方打击的效费比，使敌方每一次打击都难以获得预期战果。另一方面要从固定阵地向动态防御转变，摒弃传统的线式防御和阵地战思维，构建高度机动的防御体系，避免陷入“无处不备而又无处不寡”的窘境，以此适应高度激烈的攻防转换节奏。低成本作战的“矛”与“盾”，不是彼此孤立的两个方面，而是辩证统一的有机整体，二者相互依存、相互转化、共同演进。从战争规律来看，一味进攻必然因资源持续消耗而难以为继，一味防御可能因被动挨打而丧失主动。因此，低成本作战之道，就是要实现“矛”与“盾”的深度融合，寻求最佳平衡点，确保二者无缝衔接、一体运作。首先，要做好作战体系的一体化设计，在作战筹划上打破进攻与防御的界限，构建攻防一体的作战架构，使同一套作战力量既能遂行进攻任务，又能担负防御职能，实现力量的高效复用。其次，要做好作战资源的动态化配置，根据战场态势的实时变化，灵活调整资源在进攻与防御两端的分配比例，确保关键方向和关键时间节点的资源供给，避免资源的闲置和浪费。最后，要做好作战能力的融合式发展，推动进攻能力与防御能力的相互促进、共同提升，以进攻能力的增强带动防御韧性的提高，以防御能力的稳固支撑进攻行动的持续，使有限的战争资源发挥出最大的整体效能。