Overview
Targeting:
Targeting is the process of selecting and prioritising targets and matching the appropriate response to them, taking into 82 | AAP 1000–D The Air Power Manual account international and Australian law, national and strategic objectives, and operational requirements and capabilities.2 The responses selected through the targeting process can be kinetic or non-kinetic and create physical, cognitive and/or information effects. Targeting is intelligence-dependent, and is guided by the effects required to accomplish joint force objectives, with the ultimate intent of changing the behaviour of an adversary. Air power applied without the necessary targeting fidelity has the potential to create unfavourable effects leading to outcomes that can be extremely detrimental to military or national objectives. Targeting fidelity and the precision of engagement are essential in operations, where actions to win the conflict must be carefully balanced against the need to create the preferred environment for the ensuing peace.