Climatic Effect On Modern
Weapon Systems Sales In
The Middle East
SUBJECT AREA - Topical Issues
CSC 95
EXECUTIVE SUMMERY
Title: Climatic Effect On Modern Weapon Systems Sales In The
Middle East.
Author: Major Ahmed Rashed Al-Mo'awdah, Bahrain Defense
Force.
Thesis: I intend to explore the impact of Persian Gulf
region environmental and climatic effect on the acquisition
of military equipment employed in this geographic area with
enphasis on the establishment of strict performance
requirements.
Background: The Persian Gulf is one of the harshest climate
areas of the world. The weather and the nature of the area
can cause the buyers and the manufacturers of the weapons
and equipment to carefully study the performance and the use
of these systems and equipment in this area. We experienced
many problems testing and maintaining the military weapon
system and the equipment. I will focus this study on the
climatic and natural aspects of this area. At the same time,
I will explore the problems from the sides of the consumer
and manufacturer of the weapon systems and military
equipment.
Recommendation: By examining these problems I found that
the manufacturers must conduct detailed studies of the needs
of the Persian Gulf's armed forces equipment needs and the
effect of the environment on their successful oprerations.
Climatic Effect On Modern Weapon Systems
Sales In The Middle East.
Introduction: I intend to explore the impact of Persian
Gulf region environmental and climatic effect on the
acquisition of military equipment employed in this
geographic area with emphasis on the establishment of strict
performance requirements.
Geography and climate of the Persian Gulf.
The Persian Gulf area is considered one of the harshest
climate areas of the world. it's located in the northern
hemisphere. The Persian Gulf 's desert area consists of the
following regions.
1. Saudi Arabia.
2. United Arab Emirates.
3. Kuwait.
4. Qatar.
5. Sultanate Of Oman.
6. Bahrain.
7. Southern area of Republic of Iraq.
8. West and South of The Islamic Republic in Iran.
All of these countries are occupying the center area of the
Middle East.1
The Land:
The land area is a flat desert in most of its
area. At the same time it has lot of mountains and some
hill areas in some places such as western Saudi, Oman
and the western region of Iran.
The mountains in this desert are very hard to
pass through, very high and rocky. These areas need
mostly tough vehicles and a large number of lifting
aircraft.
The land area is not a desert area everywhere. It
consist of moving sands, rocky flats, mud areas, oases,
swamps, hills and mountains. Usually the weather is
very hot in the summer time and warm in winter. In the
winter time it gets warm in the day time but in the
night it becomes extremely cold. In the summer time the
weather gets extremely hot and dry in the day time but
becomes fair at the night time.2
The Coasts:
The Coastal areas are the most heavily
populated. People have lived there for thousands of
years because the coasts are the natural trading gates
to the world.3 The Persian Gulf's area is not populated
as much as the other areas of the world because of the
weather, but it has a high density of population on the
coastlines. The geography is very simple. Persian
Gulf's coasts are flat and open that you may see around
twenty miles behind the coastline in the good weather
condition days. Dust is not always found in these
areas. In the Persian Gulf there are two types of winds
generally, the Northern winds which comes from Iraq and
the southern winds which blow from India and Pakistan.
The northern Wind carries the sand and cools the
weather unlike the southern wind which usually carries
moisture. In addition, it heats the temperature around
10 to 20 degrees.
The weather is extremely hot in the summer time
which is around seven to nine months long. It becomes
humid and hot especially in June, July, August and
September. Usually in these areas the humidity is
around 60% to 90% in all the year but it becomes more
intense in the summer time.4
The Sea:
The depth of the sea in Persian Gulf varies from a
few feet to two hundred or three hundred feet in most
areas. There are few locations in the sea which may
exceed that depth. The nature of Persian Gulf's sea can
limit the effectiveness of many kinds of ships. At the
same time, it may require some mid size kinds of ships
and landing craft if we combine that nature with the
nature of the coastlines.5 Hovercraft and small ships
would be most useful for amphibious operations but, if
we looked at the need of using submarines or big
battleships then some special considerations arise.
Also some of these countries may not need these kinds
of weapon systems because it may effect their economy.6
Some Major End Items:
Most of the military equipment requires maintenance and
protection against corrosion which may occur by the
continuous heat and the concentrated moisture.7 Chemical
material must be protected against heat to avoid spoiling.
At the same time, all of the electronic equipment must be
protected from the direct heat specially while operating in
real contingency operation or training.
I will explain some of the major problems we are facing
while operating our equipment in the Persian Gulf area.
Vehicles:
The military vehicles are the first military
equipment to be affected by the weather. As it is
known, the military forces are mobile in all the armies
in the world. In the Persian Gulf the main problem in
the land area is the heat, dust and dry weather.
In the Persian gulf, the vehicles are driven for
long distances in the hot weather. This causes the
vehicles to consume more oil in order to lubricate the
engine and more water to cool it. These are not the
only two considerations, there are many other factors
that may affect the vehicles such as the sanding wind
and the hot roads. Sanding wind is that kind of blowing
wind which usually carries high amounts of sand and
dust. It usually blows in the summer time and grinds
the painted surfaces and scratches the windshields and
the optical external devices. The sanding wind can
penetrate the microscopic gaps between the moving parts
of the engines and track to produce severe damage to
the vehicle. The vehicles have to be painted around
twice or more than the same vehicles in Europe or
United States. The desert's hot roads and the asphalt
parking surfaces and roads can causes severe wear to
the tires, tracks and tracks pads.8
By examining many operating vehicles in the
Persian Gulf area we discovered that we need extra time
for maintenance, extra spare parts and extra lubricants
and coolants than the same vehicles serving in the
other good weather countries around the world. The
costs of maintenance are increasing according to the
weather conditions during the hot seasons. In the
winter time, the budget consumed on maintenance
decreases because the weather becomes slightly colder
and the dust usually stays on the ground. That's why
many training operations are scheduled between
September and April.
Aircraft:
Buying an aircraft from United States may not be
that big a problem to find it compatible with the
Persian Gulf's Area. Most of the American weapon
systems are ready to be used in the Persian Gulf. They
may require some modifications but usually they are
capable and compatible for use in the Persian Gulf.9
Many of the European Manufacturers do not produce
their weapon systems to work in all climatic
conditions. Consequently, the modifications would cost
much more than the estimated price. These modifications
have to be paid for because these European
manufacturers do not make necessary modifications until
paid at least the half of the total price of the
project. Modification costs must be added in advance to
be a part of the big picture.10
The military aircraft are affected by the weather
because they usually fly in variable altitudes. The
pilots complain of the low visibility during the summer
time because the dust sometimes goes up to 10,000 feet.
The dust can penetrate the tiny parts of the aircraft
equipment increasing the cost and the needs of
maintenance so the aircraft can fly in a safe and good
condition. The maintenance shops therefore spend more
hours maintaining the aircraft and that is what raises
the cost of each flying hour to more than the double
the regular flying hours assigned by the manufacturers.
At the same time, the fuel in areas by the coasts may
contain more moisture than the fuel in the land areas
and this requires critical fuel saving and storage.
Also the hot weather can cause many problems to the
weapon systems when they fire on low altitudes because
of the heat produced by the weapon itself, including
the high weather temperature.
Helicopters face more problems from the dust than
the fighters because the helicopters usually fly on low
altitude. That requires more modifications to enable
the helicopters to perform the regular assigned
missions. The modifications usually come in filtration
equipment, special fuel valves and optic sight lenses.
These problems can causes much greater modification
costs to enable the pilots and helicopter crew to
perform the assigned desert missions.
Major weapon systems:
The weapon systems vary from the personal weapon
such as the pistol to the biggest weapon such a rocket
launcher, tank, mobile artillery, battleship, etc..
These weapon systems can operate in all weather
conditions but in the hot weather the functioning of
these systems becomes limited. For example, operating a
howitzer in winter time can be more improved because
the howitzer may not go overheated by the ratio of
fire. In the summer time the howitzer may not fire more
than one round every three minutes because the users
cannot load the projectiles and the charges according
to the heat of the breech and the recoil system. The
same thing happens with the tanks and the launchers.
The new tanks are operating the firing procedures
according to computerized calculations but if the
computer went down then it will be operated manually.11
In this case the ratio of fire will be decreased to the
lowest ratio.
In addition to the heat of the weapon itself,
there is another major problem that most of the crews
cannot handle. It is the heat inside the crew
compartment in the tank or the self-propelled howitzers
and launchers. These kinds of weapons require
air-conditioning systems. This air-conditioning system
have to be an NBC (Nuclear, Biologic, Chemical) capable
system in order to reduce the risk of the NBC attack.
Many of these weapons are sold without the
air-conditioning system which is needed in this part of
the world. If that was supplied then the dust may close
that filtration system.
Most of the soldiers carry their personal arms on
the shoulder in the tactical and training operations.
The desert climate may cause the solider to spend more
time in maintaining his personal weapon. That effects
the training and operations time because the time spent
in maintenance can be used for training or to improve
operational performance. Usually many personal weapons
fail during the training and operations because the
sand and dust reduces the effectiveness of the personal
arms.
Electronic Equipment:
The electronics can get a big share of the weather
effect in Persian Gulf area. Currently about 90% of the
weapon systems use electronic devices such as
computers, digital radios, laser equipment, night
sights, radar systems and other types of electronic
equipment.
The electronic equipment is totally effected by the
heat and moisture. If we operate any electronic system
by the coast we may face the DEW problem and then we
have to wait until the system dries so we can operate
it. Sometimes the systems do not dry because of the
high amount of moisture in the air. In this case,
transferring the system to the unit maintenance or to
the base maintenance would be the best solution. If not
the moisture only, we may also face the overheating
problem which may kill the electronic circuits. Some of
the electronic equipment does not allow the moisture to
get into the inner components but the heat can destroy
it.
As an electronic devices user, I examined some
electronic equipment failures in the summer time such
as the surveillance radar systems and communications
equipment. Although the moisture may effect the
technical performance, it can add more local noise to
the radar systems. The radar system usually requires an
air-conditioning system to protect the radar from the
heat, the moisture and the dust. These air-conditioning
system cost more if we had to buy a limited quantities
of radar systems.12
Medical Supplies: Obviously the medical supplies
cost too much to be delivered in the exact time and
location. The medical supplies have to be in the best
condition to be given to the person who need it in the
battlefield. In peace time situations the medical
supplies are kept in a good environment to prevent the
heat from effecting them. During operations, medical
supplies are delivered to the patient by the medical
team or within the unit's medical section.
Patients need a good place to stay during their
recovery phase. The best location is generally under
the protection of tents. Hot weather and dust cause the
tents to spoil and damage. Tent must also be
air-conditioned, air filtered, situated on good wood
floor and loaded with suitable containers to keep the
medical supplies in a good condition.13 At the same
time, water has to be delivered to the medical area
from distant places because it's not easy to find good
water in the desert. Medical support and medical
equipment are effected by the heat, dust and corrosion.
Clothing
During my service in the Persian Gulf, I had to
work in the hot desert for long periods to do some
training. One of the problems was the type of clothing
we used. By sweating during the daytime, many soldiers
suffered several kinds of irritation because of the
petroleum materials used in the fabric which our
uniforms are made of. Light fabric materials are
recommended in the desert but the soldiers may not
experience any major skin problems due to the heat in
winter time. In summer times it's a big problem because
of the perspiration and the heat of the direct sun.
Logistics and supporting equipment
The logistics department in the armed forces of
the Persian Gulf spend double the cost of maintenance
than the other departments. As I mentioned, the need of
lubrication and spare parts consume the biggest share
of their budget.14 Then comes the storage and the
climate conditioning which is needed to keep the
supplies in good conditions.
On the battlefield the need for supplies doesn't
stop. Supplies are needed for maintaining and operating
the equipment. The water is needed in the summer time
more than the winter time for drinking and for personal
use as well maintenance.
It is required for suppliers to be able to cross
the desert and work in that climate. According to the
previous discussion, the need for good, reliable supply
vehicles is growing in proportionate to the growth of
the forces.
Usually the desert is an open area. It forces the
supply teams to add more camouflage to there positions
to avoid land surveillance. They are also forced to
provide good protection from direct fires by digging in
and increasing the number of soldiers and observation
point.
Conclusion & Recommendation.
By examining these problems I found that the
manufacturers have to study the needs of the Persian Gulf's
armed forces more carefully. They must provide those armed
forces with a technology that enables their equipment to
operate in this environment. In addition, the Persian Gulf's
armed forces are depending on the modern weapons to protect
their lands. The use of high technology weapon systems has
to include the electronics systems, which are totally
affected by the weather conditions. Manufacturers have to
provide electronic weapon systems which can work in all
these harsh conditions. We know it is not easy to provide an
integrated system like this because the of nature of the
electronic elements, However they have to provide a weapon
which can survive and operate in order to be successful.
Al-Mo'awdah, Ahmed R.
Major, BDF
1 Annex A, Map of the Middle East.
2 LTC. Ahmed Al-Taweel, Kuwait Air Force, Air Operations
Department, Interview, Feb. 18th, 1995.
3 Bahrain Trading Report 1993, Port gateway to Gulf
market, Ministry Of Information, Bahrain.
4 Al-Taweel.
5 MAJ. Mark Schwan, USMC, Interview, Mar 13th, 1995
6 Schwan.
7 MAJ. Martin Westphal, USMC, Interview, March 17th,
1995, Westphal's extensive desert experience.
8 Westphal.
9 Schwan.
10 Schwan.
11 Westphal.
12 Al-Taweel.
13 CAPT. Marcela Monahan, USMCR, Interview,
March 16th, 1995.
14 Monahan.
15 Monahan.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Al-Taweel, TLC. Ahmed, Kuwait Air Force, Air Operations
Department, Interview, 18 Feb. 1995.
Bahrain Trading Report 1993, "Port gateway to the Gulf
Market", Ministry Of Information, Bahrain, 1993
"Map of the Middle East", Marine Corps University, Mar 1993
Monahan, CAPT. Marcela, USMCR, Supply Officer, Interview, 16
Mar 1995, Quantico, VA
Shwan, MAJ. Mark, USMC, Interview, 13 Mar 1995, Quantico, VA
Westphal, MAJ. Martin, USMC, Tank Officer, Interview, 17 Mar
1995, Quantico, VA
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