Expeditionary warfare is a military invasion of a foreign territory, especially away from established bases. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of

rapid deployment force A rapid deployment force is a military formation that is capable of fast deployment. Such forces typically consist of elite military units ( special forces, paratroopers, marines, etc.) and are usually trained at a higher intensity than the rest ...

s. Traditionally, expeditionary forces were essentially self-sustaining with an organic

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

capability and with a full array of supporting arms.

In the ancient world

The earliest examples of expeditionary warfare come from the

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 BCE).. Quote: "First coined in 1881 by the Fren ...

, a term used for a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially during Year