Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW)
Understanding the New Battlefield
Written by Aries D. Russell
The New Battlefield: Understanding Fifth Generation Warfare
In a recent insightful conversation, with Lord Cromwell, he remarked, "Perhaps the UK should be investing as much in social media as it does in traditional military hardware." At first, such a statement seems unusual. After all, how could tweets and Facebook posts equate to the power of aircraft carriers and fighter jets? Yet, this sharp observation points to a major evolution in modern conflict—what’s now known as Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW)[1].
Beyond Bullets: The Rise of Fifth Generation Warfare
Traditional warfare conjures images of soldiers, tanks, and artillery. However, 5GW is a fundamentally different form of conflict. It targets the human mind rather than physical bodies or infrastructure, shifting the focus from kinetic destruction to psychological manipulation, information dominance, and cognitive disruption.
This form of warfare thrives not on physical battlegrounds, but in digital spaces, media channels, biological interventions, cyber operations, and ultimately, within the minds and daily lives of populations worldwide[2].
Instead of traditional warfighters, 5GW operatives are hidden behind layers of ambiguity and plausible deniability. Rather than clear lines of battle and uniformed troops, 5GW combatants include anonymous hackers, state-sponsored internet trolls, influencers manipulating online narratives, and actors engaged in economic coercion, biological threats, and psychological operations[3].
What Is Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW)?
The concept of Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) builds on a framework first outlined by military strategist William S. Lind[4], who proposed that the history of warfare could be understood as a progression through distinct generational shifts, each defined by how wars are fought, who fights them, and what tools are used.
The War of Perceptions
One of the defining features of Fifth Generation Warfare is the strategic manipulation of perception.
This form of conflict employs misinformation, disinformation, and targeted propaganda to amplify societal divisions, disrupt political processes, and weaken adversaries from within, all without firing a single shot[5]. The battlefield is everywhere: social media feeds, news broadcasts, entertainment platforms, financial markets, and even public health systems are all leveraged as tools in psychological operations.
A striking example of 5GW in action was the interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Foreign actors orchestrated misinformation campaigns to influence voter behaviour, not with troops or tanks, but with bots, trolls, and data-driven propaganda[6]. The result was lasting damage, deepened political polarization, widespread distrust in democratic institutions, and a society more divided than before.
In another, more recent and unprecedented case, Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of the 2024 presidential election. This followed President Klaus Iohannis’s decision to declassify intelligence reports alleging a Russian interference campaign that benefited a specific candidate through TikTok and Telegram. This not only underscores how powerful a tool social media can be for widespread manipulation, but also highlights the threat it poses to democracy, security, and social cohesion.[7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 5GW-style disinformation was deployed at scale. Russian and Chinese-linked sources pushed competing narratives around the origins of the virus, vaccine safety, and Western government responses[8]. In some cases, the goal appeared to be less about promoting a specific truth and more about sowing doubt, confusion, and distrust. The result was a fragmented public response, lower vaccination uptake in some regions, and intensified political divisions[9], all of which served to undermine national resilience from within.
These operations don’t just confuse, they create a fog of uncertainty that undermines cohesion, weakens trust in institutions, and leaves societies more vulnerable to further manipulation.
Increasingly, social media is not just shaping opinions, it is shaping reality. For many young people, platforms like TikTok and Instagram are their primary lens on global conflict, influencing their views on everything from the war in Gaza to Russia’s war in Ukraine, or even domestic issues like immigration policy[10].
In places like Tunisia, Myanmar, and even Iran, uprisings and protest movements have been sparked and coordinated through social media[11], demonstrating its power not only as a battleground of ideas, but as a trigger for real-world action.
Invisible Enemies, Ambiguous Warfare
One of the most challenging aspects of 5GW is its inherent ambiguity. Attacks are carefully structured to avoid clear attribution. Cyberattacks disrupting critical infrastructure, deepfake videos misleading the public, and orchestrated social media campaigns, and even subtle biological interventions or health misinformation campaigns can destabilize societies without identifying a clear aggressor.
One example of this ambiguity is the so-called “Havana Syndrome.” It first came to light in 2016, when U.S. diplomats in Havana, Cuba, began reporting strange symptoms—dizziness, memory loss, hearing issues—with no clear explanation. Some suspected it was caused by directed energy weapons, though no conclusive evidence has ever been found. Years later, after multiple investigations, we still don’t know exactly what happened or who was responsible[12]. Making it a perfect example of the murky, hard-to-attribute nature of modern threats.
Multi-Dimensional Threats
Beyond social media and cyber threats, 5GW encompasses biological warfare, technological intrusions, and economic pressure. Biological warfare involves subtle disruptions to public health through misinformation or genetically targeted biological agents. Technological intrusions might include sophisticated surveillance systems, covert manipulations of artificial intelligence systems[13], and data-driven psychological profiling to influence decision-making processes. Economic warfare includes currency manipulation, targeted sanctions, trade disruptions, and interference with supply chains[14].
A Paradigm Shift for Defence
In response, militaries and governments around the world are recalibrating their approach. Traditional military strength remains essential, but there is growing recognition of the critical importance of digital defences, media literacy, public health preparedness, economic resilience, and psychological robustness.
Preparing for the Future
Ultimately, Fifth Generation Warfare demands that we broaden our understanding of conflict. As societies become digitally interconnected, vulnerabilities to psychological manipulation and information-based threats multiply. Policymakers and defence strategists must swiftly adapt to this new paradigm.
Lord Cromwell’s insight was more than just an observation; it was a strategic imperative. Understanding and countering 5GW demands significant investment in cognitive defence, biological preparedness, economic stability, and digital resilience alongside traditional military capabilities.
As warfare evolves into the fifth generation, success will be defined not only by traditional military might, but by the capacity to navigate, dominate, and defend the invisible yet profoundly influential battlefields that shape our perceptions, health, economies, and societies.
Written by Aries Russell
Managing Director, Aries Intelligence
[1] Daniel H. Abbott, The Handbook of Fifth-Generation Warfare (5GW) (Ann Arbor, MI: Nimble Books, 2010).
[2] Armin Krishnan, “Fifth Generation Warfare, Hybrid Warfare, and Gray Zone Conflict: A Comparison,” Journal of Strategic Security 15, no. 4 (2022): 14–31, https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol15/iss4/2.
[3] “Generations of warfare,” Wikipedia, last modified June 29, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generations_of_warfare
[4] William S. Lind, “Understanding Fourth Generation Warfare,” Military Review (2004): 12–13, quoted in W. A. Qureshi, “Fourth- and Fifth-Generation Warfare: Technology and Perceptions,” San Diego International Law Journal 21, no. 1 (2019): 188, https://digital.sandiego.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1293&context=ilj
[5] Armin Krishnan, “Fifth Generation Warfare, Hybrid Warfare, and Gray Zone Conflict: A Comparison,” Journal of Strategic Security 15, no. 4 (2022): 18–20, https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol15/iss4/2
[6] Fifth Generation Warfare: AI in the Election Cycle, Grey Dynamics, October 21, 2024, https://greydynamics.com/fifth-generation-warfare-ai-in-the-election-cycle/
[7] Atlantic Council, “Romania annulled its presidential election results amid alleged Russia interference. What happens next?“, December 6, 2024
[8] Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), "Covid-19 Disinformation and the CCP’s Global Message Machine" (2021), https://www.aspi.org.au/report/covid-19-disinformation
[9] Loomba, Sahil; de Figueiredo, Alexandre; Piatek, Simon J.; de Graaf, Kristen; Larson, Heidi J. (5 February 2021). "Measuring the impact of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on vaccination intent in the UK and USA" https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41562-021-01056-1
[10] Ben Schreckinger, “Introducing the ‘5G’ War,” POLITICO Digital Future Daily, December 15, 2022, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/digital-future-daily/2022/12/15/the-other-5g-00074195
[11] Howard, Philip N., et al. “Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media During the Arab Spring?” Project on Information Technology and Political Islam, University of Washington, 2011. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2595096
[12] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.17226/25889
[13] Aaron Conti, “Data Poisoning as a Covert Weapon: Securing U.S. Military Superiority in AI-Driven Warfare,” Articles of War, Lieber Institute, West Point, June 30, 2025, https://lieber.westpoint.edu/data-poisoning-covert-weapon-securing-us-military-superiority-ai-driven-warfare/.
[14] MITRE Corporation. Strategic Economics in Practice: Operational Planning. Integrated Deterrence Series. Bedford, MA: MITRE, June 2024. https://www.mitre.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/PR-24-1861-Strategic-Economics-in-Practice-Operational-Planning.pdf.