FEBA is a Cold War ground combat acronym which stands for Forward Edge of the Battle Area. As the modern battlefield increased in lethality, range and complexity, the term 'front line' (typically used to denote those positions in contact with the enemy and thus at most risk) became inadequate to describe a particular geographic subset of a battlespace. The term FEBA replaced it; as (by definition) the 'most forward' units are those closest to the enemy. The FEBA figures strongly in Lanchester Equation military analysis.