text: _________________________________________________________________________________Chapter 7
  only shift the balance of power in the region in the OPFOR’s favor, but
  also undermine enemy morale and resolve.
  TARGET DAMAGE CRITERIA
  7-9. Target damage is the effect of fires on a given military target. It results
  in total, partial, or temporary loss of the target’s combat effectiveness.
  The OPFOR categories of target damage are annihilation, demolition,
  neutralization, and harassment.1 Of these categories, the first three fall
  under the general term destruction.
  Annihilation
  7-10. Annihilation fires render targets completely combat-ineffective and
  incapable of reconstruction or token resistance. For a point target such as
  an antitank guided missile launcher, the OPFOR must expend enough
  munitions to ensure a 70 to 90 percent probability of kill. For area targets
  such as platoon strongpoints or nuclear artillery assets, the OPFOR must fire
  enough rounds to destroy from 50 to 60 percent of the targets within a group.
  These fires result in the group ceasing to exist as a viable fighting force.
  Demolition
  7-11. The OPFOR uses the term demolition in reference to the destruction of
  buildings and engineer works (such as bridges, fortifications, or roads).
  Demolition requires enough munitions to make such material objects unfit for
  further use.
  Neutralization
  7-12. Fire for neutralization inflicts enough losses on a target to—
  • Cause it to temporarily lose its combat effectiveness, or
  • Restrict or prohibit its maneuver, or
  • Disrupt its command and control (C2) capability.
  To achieve neutralization, the OPFOR must deliver enough munitions to de-
  stroy 30 percent of a group of unobserved targets. The expectation is that the
  target is severely damaged but could again become capable of coordinated re-
  sistance after the fire is lifted. The term neutralization applies only in an ar-
  tillery context.
  Harassment
  7-13. The OPFOR uses a limited number of fire support systems and
  munitions within a prescribed time to deliver harassment fires. The goal of
  these fires is to put psychological pressure on enemy personnel in locations
  such as defensive positions, command posts (CPs), and logistics installations.
  Successful harassment fire inhibits maneuver, lowers morale, interrupts
  rest, and weakens enemy combat readiness.
  1 The use of precision weapons may render such target damage criteria obsolete, since precision weapons
  are always supposed to “annihilate” the targets completely, not just destroying a certain percentage of them.