Editing Combined arms (section)

==Ancient warfare==
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Combined arms operations date back to antiquity, where armies would usually field a screen of [[skirmisher]]s to protect their spearmen during the approach to contact. Especially in the case of the Greek [[hoplites]], however, the focus of military thinking lay almost exclusively on the heavy infantry. In more elaborate situations armies of various nationalities fielded different combinations of light, medium, or heavy infantry, light or heavy cavalry, chariotry, camelry, elephantry, and artillery (mechanical weapons). Combined arms in this context was how to best use the cooperating units, variously armed with side-arms, spears, or missile weapons in order to coordinate an attack to disrupt and then destroy the enemy.

[[Philip II of Macedon]] greatly improved upon the limited combined arms tactics of the Greek city-states and combined the newly created Macedonian phalanx with heavy cavalry and other forces. The phalanx would hold the opposing line in place, until the heavy cavalry could smash and break the enemy line by achieving local superiority.

The early Republic [[Roman Legion]] was a combined arms force and consisted of five classes of troops. Lightly equipped [[velites]] acted as skirmishers armed with light javelins. The [[hastati]] and [[principes]] formed the main attacking strength of the legion with [[gladius|swords]] and [[pilum|pila]], whilst the [[triarii]] formed the defensive backbone of the legion fighting as spearmen (initially as a denser Greek [[phalanx]] and later as a looser spear wall formation) with long spears and large shields. The fifth class of troops were the [[equites]] (the cavalry), which were used for scouting, pursuit and to guard the flanks.

The Legion then became notionally a unit of heavy infantrymen armed with just sword and pilum, and fielded with a small attached auxiliary skirmishers and missile troops, and incorporated a small cavalry unit. The legion was sometimes also incorporated into a higher-echelon combined arms unit – e.g., in one period it was customary for a general to command two legions plus two similarly sized units of auxiliaries, lighter units useful as screens or for combat in rough terrain. Later during the Roman Empire, auxiliary soldiers outnumbered the core legionary troops.

The army of the [[Han dynasty]] is also an example, fielding mêlée infantry (equipped with a variety of different weapons ranging from swords to pikes to halberd-like weapons), archers, crossbowmen, and cavalry (ranging from horse archers to heavy lancers). One recorded tactical formation during the Han dynasty included three ranks of halberds, swordsmen, and spearmen, supported by crossbows, and with cavalry on the flanks.

Civilizations such as the [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]]s and [[Sassanid]]s also were known to have fielded a combination of infantry supported by powerful cavalry.