Lahingpaar

Lahingpaar
Active	present
Country	Estonia
Branch	Estonian Ground Force
Type	infantry
Size	2
Equipment	small firearms
Commanders
Commander	Soldier

Lahingpaar, (English: fire and maneuver team) is a very small Estonian military unit led by a soldier that is subordinate to an infantry fireteam. Lahingpaar is bigger than an individual soldier but smaller than a salk (fireteam). It is also the smallest military formation among the Estonian Ground Force infantry units.^[1]

Leadership

It usually consists of two soldiers. A lahingpaar is composed of one fire and maneuver team which is led by the more experienced soldier in the team.

Organization

One single lahingpaar is meant to operate on a battlefield along with other lahingpaar's on a landscale not greater than 20 x 50 metres. There are no logistical support elements in the structure of a lahingpaar.

Other military uses

A fire and maneuver team is the smallest unit above the individual soldier. It consists of two soldiers with one soldier acting as senior of the two fighters (decided amongst the two or their superior). A fireteam in turn consists of at least two fire and maneuver teams and a squad of two or more fireteams. The concept is not widely utilized. The United States and most Commonwealth armies rely on the concept of fireteams forming a squad. In the Finnish Defense Forces squad is formed by four fire and maneuver teams.

According to the Swedish Army field manual, a trained fire and maneuver team is as effective as four individual soldiers of same quality. However, the efficiency of the fire and maneuver team has been challenged by many experts as it has been claimed to be insufficient in close-quarter situations where many fighting techniques have been designed for larger units.

See also

• Military science
• Salk (English: fireteam)

Notes and references

1. http://www.mil.ee/kevadtorm/?s=kasulik Estonian Defence Forces formations