For decades, military power has been defined by the scale and sophistication of conventional arsenals — combat aircraft, tanks, artillery, warships, air-defence systems, precision-guided missiles, and other high-end assets.

In this environment, battlefield superiority belonged to armies with technologically advanced platforms and equipment, sophisticated intelligence networks, and large budgets. Smaller militaries and non-state actors, by contrast, were largely confined to asymmetric tactics that relied on guerrilla warfare, ambushes, and other unconventional methods to offset their opponents’ superior firepower and operational dominance.