A Contribution to Defining The Twelve-Day Israeli–Iranian War Of 2025

In June 2025, an armed conflict broke out between Israel (and, toward the end of the conflict, also the United States on the Israeli side) and Iran, lasting twelve days. At first glance, this war appears unusual because the two states do not share a common land border or body of water, while the states located between them (Syria, Jordan, and Iraq), at least officially, did not participate in the conflict. This raised the question of whether this conflict could be classified as a so-called sixth-generation war. The concept of the six generations of war was formulated at the end of the last century and the beginning of this one by the Russian general and Doctor of Military Sciences Vladimir Slipchenko, and was also promoted by the admiral of the Soviet/Russian navy Ivan Kapitanets. In their view, this is the most recent generation of war, in which armed struggle is conducted with conventional (that is, non-nuclear) strategic weaponry—cruise/ballistic missileswith programmed guidance, high precision, long range, and great destructive power, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles, both reconnaissance and strike, with the support of sophisticated means for electronic warfare. These are conflicts characterized by the absence of any combat contact on land, in which so-called long-distance strikes prevail, and in which (non-)combat operations unfold in the air, outer space, and cyberspace. By analyzing the content of the armed struggle in the Israeli–Iranian war, the study examines whether, given the actions displayed by the belligerent sides, this war can be classified and defined from the conceptual perspective established by the aforementioned Russian authors. The conclusion is that, by a considerable part of its characteristics, this war can be classified as a sixth-generation war, but that in its entirety it represents a combination of fourth- and sixth-generation warfare.