The Tampa Tribune (Florida) March 17, 2003
Battle Smarts
Today's high-tech weapons are turning war into a more exact science.
By Kurt Loft
TAMPA - The looming war with Iraq will be a conflict where weapons just might outsmart people.
Since Operation Desert Storm a decade ago, the United States has spent billions of dollars developing and upgrading munitions, devices designed to kill bad guys by outwitting them. Gone are the days of the dumb gravity bomb, which has been replaced by systems that think for themselves.
Today's high-tech arsenal includes microwave bombs to knock out electrical grids without hurting people; missiles that refer to their own computer maps to reconfigure targets in the final seconds; bunker busters that destroy chemical or biological weapons depots but smother escaping toxins; and small robots that film the battlefield so incoming troops know what to expect.
Such intelligent systems are the weapons of necessity, says Mark Burgess, a military research analyst with the Center for Defense Information, a think tank in Washington, D.C. The leap in technology, he says, is mind-boggling.
"During the last Gulf War, 7 percent of munitions were smart bombs," Burgess says. "In the Afghan campaign, this figure went up to 60 percent. In any future conflict, it would be over 75 percent - possibly approaching 100 percent in the initial sorties."
Satellites and navigation software, Burgess adds, have made hitting targets more of an exact science.
"The advent of the Global Positioning System and the JDAM [Joint Direct Attack Munition bomb guidance system] means forces on the ground can now call in an air strike with an accuracy previously not possible," he says. "This has given venerable B-52 bombers a new lease on life."
And with accuracy come fewer strikes, which translates to fewer bombs needed to get a job done, says Steven M. Kosiak, a defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.
"Today, you have a high probability of taking out a fixed target with one weapon, while in World War II you might have needed dozens of bombs or sorties to take out that target," Kosiak says. "The net effect was it was more costly back then because you put the airplane and people at risk."
Pentagon officials expect a war with Iraq to be far more accurate than the 1991 Gulf War, when 58 percent of the intended targets were hit. That number will be much higher this time around, says Kosiak.
"The military today is much more capable because it has a more extensive strike capability," he says. "There's been a dramatic change in the percentage of smart systems. And these precision bombs are especially effective early on when you're worrying about enemy air defenses."
Here's a look at some of today's high-tech weapons:
A bomb called the CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon uses infrared laser sensors on multiple warheads that can lock onto moving vehicles. The half-ton weapon carries 10 small "sub-munitions," each equipped with four Skeet warheads. In all, the CBU can drop 40 weapons into the combat zone.
Thermobaric bombs and rockets are now entering service. They create massive fireballs and high-pressure concussions that can carry through tunnels, stairwells and hallways on multiple floors.
A laser-guided bomb packed with incendiary, "thermo-corrosive" material destroys the target and any chemical or biological weapons with it. This prevents toxins from being released after the explosion.
The E-bomb is a radio-frequency weapon that disables electronics and grid systems by sending out high-powered microwave energy. It acts in much the same way a lightning strike spikes home computers and televisions. With electronics systems crippled, the enemy is less likely to launch its own weapons.
The "blackout bomb" disperses superconducting carbon filaments that can short-circuit power systems. Considered a soft bomb, it has no harmful effect on people or structures.
The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile is designed to evade radar and destroy hardened targets. The one-ton weapon launches from a bomber or fighter and has a range of 200 miles.
The Predator, the latest in unmanned air vehicles, provides real-time video feeds to gunships and other vehicles in or around the combat zone. Troops on the ground link up to the Predator with laptop computers.
A new 21,000-pound Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB, bomb was successfully tested in Florida last week. The largest conventional bomb in the U.S. inventory, it can clear fields, take out mines and make a strong "psychological" impact on the enemy, according to the Pentagon.
The British-built Storm Shadow cruise missile uses terrain-reference navigation to fly low to the ground in any weather. As it approaches a target, the weapon's computer compares the physical scene with a memorized one, then chooses a specific point to hit.
Small ground robots called Packbots are designed to gather intelligence and detect mines before troops move in. They also can be armed with weapons.
(CHART) Other Precision-guided bombs
(See microfilm for details)
Graphic by Knight Ridder/Tribune;
Sources: Dallas Morning News, Federation of American Scientists
(CHART) E-BOMBS: WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS THE TARGET
If there is war with Iraq, the military could use electromagnetic bombs to take out key electronic and electrical equipment. These new weapons emit a strong electromagnetic pulse that can render devices useless.
(See microfilm for details)
Graphic by The Associated Press;
Sources: "Air and Space Chronicles," GlobalSecurity.org
GRAPHIC: PHOTO (C) CHART (2C)
Associated Press file photo
(C) An F-16 on a training exercise drops a bomb equipped with Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The bombs, guided by GPS satellites, were widely used in the war in Afghanistan and could be used again in Iraq.
Copyright © 2003, The Tribune Co.
