The Dallas Morning News March 2, 2003
The Gulf Between the Wars
It's been 12 years since Desert Strom. While the names and places may be the same, the difference can be found on the weapons-technology front.
By Layne Smith and Chris Morris
Building up to war
Hundreds of thousands of troops from all over the world have encircled Iraq leaving few options for Saddam Hussein.
Bound for Turkey
4th Infantry Division (mechanized)
11,000-15,000 soldiers
Task Force Ironhorse
37,000 soldiers, led by the 4th Infantry Division
On alert
1st Armored Division
15,000 soldiers in Wiesbaden, Germany
Israel
69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade
500 soldiers, Patriot missile systems
1st Marine Regiment
800 Marines; Patriot missile systems
Naval forces
6 U.S. aircraft carriers
32,000 personnel; 325 aircraft; 52 others ships in the region.
United Kingdom
17 surface vessels; 4,000 Royal marines
Australia
HMAS Kanimbla (transport)
Positions of some of the U.S. and coalition air forces
As of Feb. 7, five fighter wings, including 12 F-117 stealth fighters, and a B-1 bomber wing have been deployed, on top of those aircraft already patrolling the no-fly zones.
Prince Sultan Air Base, south of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
363rd Air Expeditionary Wing
F-16s, F-15s, E-3 AWACS (air control), KC-135 refuelers, RC-135 and U2s (reconnaissance) E8 JSTARS and UH-60 medevac helicopters and an airlift squadron; British RAF tornado
Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait
386th Air Expeditionary Group
A-10 Warthogs (tank killers), EC-130H (Electronic combat), HC-130P (rescue), British RAF Tornado GR4s.
Ali Jaber Air Base, Kuwait
323nd Air Expeditionary Group
A-10 Warthogs (tank killers), F-16s, F-15s, E-3 AWACS, c-130s (transport), HH-60G rescue helicopters.
Masirah Air Base, Oman
355th Air Expeditionary Group
AC-130s, MC-130E, C-130s and KC-135R
Seeb IAP, Oman
320th Air Expeditionary Wing
C-130 (airlift), unidentified fighter squadron
Thumrait Air Base, Oman
405th Air Expeditionary Wing/Bomb squadron
B-1B bombers, RC-135c, E-3A AWACS, KC-135R, C-130; British RAF Nimrod MR2 (surveillance).
Ali Udeid Air Base, Qatar
379th Air Expeditionary Wing
F-117s, KC-10s, KC-135Rs, KC-10s, E-8 JSTARs, F-15s, F-16s.
Al Dhafra Air Base, U.A.E.
380th Air Expeditionary Wing
U-2s, RQ-4s, Kc-10s
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey
39th Air and Space Expeditionary Wing
F-16s, F-16CJs, F-16CDs, F-15Cs, KC-135s, E-3Bs, EA-6Bs, F-15Es, MC-130s, HH-60Gs, UH-60s; British RAF Jaguars
Diego Garcia (Indian Ocean)
40th Air Expeditionary Wing, 509th Bomb Wing
B-2 bombers, B-52 bombers, KC-135R refuelers
Coalition ground forces
United Kingdom
1st Armored division, 7th Armored Brigade; 16th Air Assault Brigade, 102nd Logistics brigade
Australia
Australian Special Forces Task group
U.S. ground forces, Kuwait and Gulf area
III Corps
Medevac, infantry, air defense and artillery units
V Corps
Command element, 1,500 soldiers. Air defense artillery, Patriot missile batteries, military intelligence and police units.
XVIII Airborne Corps
Infantry, artillery and other support elements
3rd Infantry Division (mechanized)
18,000 soldiers, reported to be in Kuwait. Intelligence, artillery, chemical support, infantry and heavy armor.
82nd Airborne
325th Infantry Regiment, core of a 4,000 solider task force; field artillery units and POW handling units.
101st Airborne
16,000 soldiers, with 270 helicopters; Combat support hospital and 101st Corps Support Group.
1st Marine Expeditionary Force
35,000 Marines; 60 M-1A1 TANKS
24TH Marine Expeditionary Unit
1,500 Marines, tanks and helicopters
2nd marine Expeditionary Brigade
7,500 Marines aboard ships with 5,000-member Amphibious Group 2.
Desert Storm
New weapons such as laser guided bombs and unmanned aerial vehicles debuted during the Gulf War while countless old ones served as the backbone to U.S. military power. Combined, it led to one of the most sweeping victories in modern history.
B-52 BOMBER:
The B-52 is the primary bomber for the United States and was the only strategic bomber to operate during Desert Storm. With more than 45 years of service, some planes are older than their crews.
MANFUCTURER: Boeing
DEPLOYED: 1955
CREW: 5
SPEED: 650 mph
RANGE*: 8,800 miles
CEILING: Almost 50,000 feet
PAYLOAD: 70,000 pounds of mixed ordnance
* unrefueled
LASER-GUIDED BOMBS (LGBs):
While only eight percent of all bombs dropped during Desert Storm were precision guided, they garnered much of the attention. They operate by seeking out the reflected energy of laser directed on enemy targets. A look at the Paveway III:
Paveway III
Deployment date: 1983
Weight: 2,000 pounds
Range: 11 miles
Cost: $ 55,000
Delivery platform: Fighter bombers such as the F-117
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVS):
During Desert Storm UAVs were primarily used to provide intelligence and firing support for coalition battleships. Iraqi soldiers attempted to surrender to a Pioneer drone as it was flying a fire support mission in Kuwait.
Pioneer
Range: 114 miles
Endurance: 4 hours
Payload: Video and infrared cameras
Top Speed: 126 mph
Pointer
Role: Short-range reconnaissance
Range: 4 miles
Endurance: 1 hour
Payload: Video camera
Other: This hand-launched system is cheap and, being electric, is quiet as well.
TOMAHAWK MISSLE, BLOCK 2:
The Tomahawk is an all-weather cruise missile that can be launched from land, sea or air. The Tomahawks used in Desert Storm used terrain contour matching to find their way to targets.
Contractor: Raytheon
Deployments date: 1983
Speed: 550 mph
Range: 690 miles
Payload: Either a conventional 1,000 pound bomb, submunition bomblets or nuclear warhead
PATRIOT AIR DEFENSE (PAC2):
The Patriot missile systems in Desert Storm had limited success shooting down Iraq Scud missiles.
Role: Air defense missile
Manufacturer: Raytheon
Weight: 1,984 pounds
Range: 9 miles
Speed: Mach 5
Warhead: High explosive blast fragmentation
M-1A1 ABRAMS:
During Desert Strom the M-1A1 out-shot out-maneuvered and out-paced every tank in the Iraqi arsenal. No M-1A1 was lost to enemy fire in Iraq.
Role: Main battle tank
Manufacturer: General Dynamics
Deployment Date: 1985
Crew: 4
Weight: 63 tons
Range: 275 miles
Armament: 120 mm smoothbore gun, one 7.62 mm co-axial machine gun, one 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun
The next round
Where high-tech weapons were the exception in Desert Storm, the next round with Iraq will be quite different. Precision guided munitions will be the norm, and UAVs will patrol the skies searching for our enemies and often destroying them.
B-2 BOMBER:
The stealth bomber has the unique ability to penetrate enemy defenses to threaten valued and heavily defended targets. It is the most sophisticated, and deadly, bomber in the world.
Manufacturer: Northrop Grumman
Deployed: 1997
Role: Strategic Bomber
Crew: 2
Speed: 630 mph
Range*: 7,249 miles
Ceiling: Almost 50,000 feet
Payload: 40,000 pounds of mixed ordnance
* unrefueled
JOINT DIRECT ATTACK MUNITION (JDAM):
The JDAM is a tail kit attached to standard "dumb bombs". Using GPS satellites the bombs are directed to preprogrammed coordinates in any type of weather. The low-powered GPS signals are easy to jam however.
Deployment Date: 1995
Range: 15 miles
Cost: $ 21,000
Delivery platform: Almost any U.S. fighter or bomber
UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAVS):
New UAVs have a much greater range and are outfitted with the latest intelligence gathering hardware. Some are being armed with missiles
Global Hawk
Range: 3,452 miles
Endurance: 42 hours
Payload: All-weather wide-area and spot high resolution sensors.
Predator
Range: More than 920 miles
Endurance: 40 hours
Payload: Infrared, radar and laser targeting equipment
Other: The Predator proved itself as a weapons platform in Afghanistan.
TOMAHAWK MISSILE, BLOCK 3:
The Tomahawk undoubtedly will be one of the first weapons fired into Iraq. The new versions will use GPS satellites to navigate.
Contractor: Raytheon
Deployment Date: 1993
Range: 1,000 miles
Payload: Either a conventional 1,000 pound bomb, submunition bomblets or nuclear warhead.
PATRIOT AIR DEFENSE (PAC-3):
The PAC-3 is much smaller and more maneuverable than its predecessor. Rather than having an exploding warhead, it has a hit-to-kill system.
Role: Air defense missile
Manufacturer: Lockheed Martin
Weight: 708 pounds
Range: 27.98 miles
Speed: Mach 5
Warhead: None, Designed to ram incoming missiles.
DEFIANT DECADE: 12 Years of U.S./Iraqi Relations
Aug. 2, 1990 Iraq invades Kuwait. The U.N. Security Council issues Resolution 660, condemning the invasion and calling for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Iraq troops.
Nov. 28, 1990 UNSC Resolution 677 condemns Iraq's attempts "to alter the demographic composition of the population of Kuwait and to destroy the civil records maintained by the legitimate government of Kuwait."
Jan. 16-17, 1991 U.S.-led coalition forces, under the aegis of the United Nations, begin the aerial bombardment of Iraq, the first stage of Operation Desert Strom.
Feb 24, 1991 Ground operations begin, leading to the swift liberation of Kuwait on Feb. 27.
March 3, 1991 Iraq accepts the terms of the U.N. cease-fire.
June 17, 1991 UNSC Resolution 699 approves the establishment of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), tasked with the destruction of Iraqi weapons
Aug. 19, 1992 Washington, London and Paris establish the southern no-fly zone, up to the 32nd parallel, to protect the Shiite Muslim minority.
Jan. 7, 1993 Washington approves a strike at Iraq after accusing Baghdad of moving missiles into the southern no-fly zone. On Jan. 10, coalition warplanes and ship-launched cruise missiles are used in an attack on facilities in southern Iraq.
Oct. 7, 1994 Iraq troops move toward Kuwait. On Oct. 15, UNSC Resolution 949 condemns Iraq military moves in the south and calls for the immediate withdrawal of Iraq force from the area.
Nov. 10, 1994 Iraq's National Assembly recognizes the border with Kuwait, which was finalized in May 1993 and recognized in UNSC Resolution 833.
August 1995 President Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Gen Hussein Kamil Hasan al-Majid, who serves as minister of industry and minerals, his bother Saddam, director of the Military Industrialization Organization, and their families leave Iraq and are granted asylum in Jordan.
Oct. 15, 1995 Mr. Hussein wins a referendum that allows him to retain the presidency for another seven years.
Feb. 20, 1996 Gen. Al-Majid and his brother return to Baghdad after Mr. Hussein promises them a pardon. They are executed three days later.
June 12, 1996 UNSC Resolution 1060 condemns Iraq's refusal to give U.N. weapons inspectors access and demands immediate compliance with UNSC Resolution 687, 797 and 715.
Sept. 11, 1996 Two U.S. F-16s come under attack from an Iraqi missile. Washington responds by deploying more aircraft and another aircraft carrier to the region. After U.S. military aircraft land in Kuwait, Iraq accuses Kuwait of carrying out an act of war.
June 21. 1997 UNSC Resolution 1115 condemns Iraq's refusal to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to have access to certain sites and demands that Iraq comply with UNSC Resolutions 687, 707, 715 and 1060.
Oct. 30, 1997 Iraq denies U.N. weapon inspectors access to suspected facilities.
February 1998 U.S. and British forces begin another buildup in the region while Iraq continues to interfere with U.N. and IAEA weapons inspectors.
Oct. 31, 1998 Iraq ceases cooperation with U.N. and IAEA weapons inspectors.
Dec. 9, 1998 Iraq refuses to permit an unannounced U.N. weapons inspection in Baghdad.
Feb. 19, 1999 The spiritual leader of the Shia sect, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, is assassinated in Najaf.
Dec. 17, 1999 UNSC Resolution 1284 replaces the U.N. weapons inspectors with the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission.
March 1, 2000 Hans Blix becomes head of UNMOVIC.
September 2000 Mr. Hussein publicly calls on his "nuclear Muhahidden" to "defeat the enemy."
November 2000 Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz declares Baghdad's rejection of new U.N. weapons inspection proposals.
February 2001 U.S. and British aircraft carry out bombing raids intended to destroy Iraq's air-defense systems.
Dec. 19, 2001 U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls on Iraq to allow the return of weapons inspectors and asks Washington not to extend the war against terrorism to Iraq.
Nov. 8, 2002 UNSC Resolution 1441 is passe3d unanimously. The resolution calls for weapons inspectors to enter Iraq "without any conditions."
Dec. 19, 2002 The U.S. declares Iraq in "material breach" of UNSC resolution 1441.
SOURCES: Strategic Forecasting; Federation of American Scientists; GlobalSecurity.org; Boeing; Raytheon; Lockheed Martin; Northrop Grumman; Associated Press; Dallas Morning News research
Copyright © 2003, The Dallas Morning News
