Forward Operating Bases and temporary positions sit at the centre of most Land operations. They support manoeuvre, house critical assets, and act as hubs for patrols and wider mission activity. They are also predictable, fixed points in a fluid battlespace, which makes them natural targets.
The Force Protection Planning Tool (FPPT) gives Land commanders the clarity needed to protect these bases effectively. It enables teams to analyse terrain, model threats, plan patrols, and coordinate both defensive and offensive activity from a single, evidence-based view of the environment.
For decades, Land forces have relied on physical sand tables and hand-built terrain models to plan base protection, patrols and wider operations. These methods remain useful for explaining intent and visualising complex ground, but they require time, manpower and subjective interpretation. FPPT delivers the same visual understanding instantly, using accurate terrain data, real threat modelling and repeatable analysis. It preserves the strengths of traditional planning while modernising the process into a faster, clearer and more adaptable digital format.
Understanding the ground threat
Land bases have been frequent targets across recent conflicts. In Iraq, locations nicknamed “Mortaritaville” faced daily indirect fire. In Afghanistan, rockets, small arms, and drones became routine threats. Similar patterns continue in modern theatres where adversaries exploit terrain, cover, and predictable activity patterns.
Common threats to Land bases include:
- Indirect Fire (IDF): rockets and mortars fired from stand-off positions.
- Direct Fire (DF): small arms, heavy machine guns, and sniper fire directed at towers, entry points, or accommodation.
- Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs): affecting approach routes and patrol movements.
- sUAS: drones used for reconnaissance or direct attack against infrastructure or personnel.
These threats require a planning approach that blends defensive protection with offensive action to disrupt and remove enemy firing positions.
Defensive operations in the Land domain
FPPT allows Land forces to understand and prioritise vulnerabilities around a base. By combining terrain data with surface features, the software highlights where IDF, DF, or drone attacks are most likely to occur. Elevation, cover, approach routes, and observation angles are all included in the assessment.
Using FPPT, commanders can:
- Plan patrol routes that cover high-risk sectors.
- Site counter-IDF sensors and radar systems for early detection.
- Position counter-fire assets to cover likely launch zones.
- Identify optimal locations for towers, guard posts, and OPs.
- Harden specific infrastructure such as communications nodes or fuel sites.
This transforms routine static defence into a coordinated system based on clear priorities and quantifiable risk.
Offensive operations: shaping the environment
Land forces do not simply defend a base; they shape the ground around it. FPPT supports this by identifying likely enemy firing points, infiltration routes, and dead ground that could be exploited for attacks.
Users can overlay intelligence reports, sightings, or UAV feeds onto FPPT’s terrain analysis. This helps create targeted plans for:
- Clearance patrols tasked with disrupting IDF and DF threats.
- Strike operations against confirmed enemy firing positions.
- Route security missions to prevent IED emplacement.
- Integration of ISR assets, including UAVs, ground sensors, and OPs.
This coordination keeps the initiative with the Land commander, ensuring offensive and defensive planning work together rather than in isolation.
Helicopter operations: CASEVAC and troop insertion
Rotary-wing support is vital in the Land environment, particularly for CASEVAC, reinforcement, and resupply. FPPT supports the identification and assessment of safe Helicopter Landing Sites (HLS).
FPPT can automatically detect potential HLS locations based on:
- Aircraft D-value to ensure sufficient rotor clearance.
- Gradient and slope to confirm safe landing conditions.
- Day and night parameters to reflect visibility requirements.
Once potential sites are identified, FPPT assesses their exposure to direct-fire, MANPADS and drone threats. This ensures that landing zones offer both accessibility and protection, whether for urgent medical evacuation or planned troop insertion.
Search and patrol planning
FPPT’s patrol planning and truth trace functionality supports the day-to-day rhythm of Land operations.
Users can design patrol routes, record incidents, and update the shared operational picture. This enables commanders to:
- Track coverage and identify gaps.
- Direct patrols to emerging hotspots.
- Maintain an accurate record of incidents and threat activity.
- Improve situational awareness across the battle group.
This is equally valuable for military operations, stabilisation tasks, or humanitarian support missions where ground coverage needs to be coordinated and documented.
Balancing security with manpower
Effective Land base protection is not simply a matter of increasing patrols or staffing more towers. It is about placing limited resources where they will deliver the most impact.
FPPT supports this by identifying where threats are most likely to occur, allowing planners to concentrate manpower and sensors where they are genuinely needed. This improves security while reducing the burden on personnel.
In summary
Protecting Land bases requires a combination of defensive readiness, offensive action, and coordinated planning. FPPT supports all three. It models indirect fire, direct fire, drone, and MANPADS threats, assists with patrol and counter-IDF planning, helps coordinate offensive clearance tasks, and supports the safe siting of helicopter landing zones through accurate terrain and threat analysis.
By providing Land commanders with a clear understanding of the ground around them, FPPT turns static defence into active, coordinated force protection.
If you would like to explore this further, we would be happy to arrange a demo. Call us on +44 (0)1794 834750 or email enquiries@cunningrunning.co.uk.
Alternatively, connect with us on LinkedIn and follow the Cunning Running company page, or the LinkedIn pages of Phil Cowell or John Overend.
