Three-quarters of sorties now being flown to assist ground forces in air campaign switch
With the second Gulf War into its second week and officials cautioning that the conflict will last longer than initially expected, the air campaign has begun to shift from striking fixed targets to flying close support missions for ground forces.
US Central Command reported that three-quarters of the 800 strike missions flown by 24 March were against targets of opportunity, mostly in support of ground troops. The total number of sorties flown by the end of week one exceeded 6,000, including 1,500 flown from five US Navy aircraft carriers, while nearly 700 Raytheon BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles had been fired.
Targets of opportunity can prove difficult to strike accurately. Many tactical targets are mobile, making use of GPS satellite-guided weapons more difficult. Vehicles are smaller than buildings, while fixed targets such as strongholds also tend to be smaller than fixed infrastructure and can be intermingled with the civilian population, increasing the chance of collateral damage.
Targeting problems have been highlighted by stray bombs and missiles landing in Turkey and Iran, while a bus carrying Syrians was destroyed as it crossed a bridge after an attack had been initiated.
An RAF source says precision targeting of mobile targets "is possible". One means is to fix a position once the target has stopped. "Otherwise use laser-guidance", says the source.
Laser-guidance has been defeated in earlier conflicts by bad weather and battlefield obscurants such as smoke.In Iraq, visual conditions are also impaired by sandstorms and the Iraqi regime has set fire to oil-filled trenches creating dense black smoke.
Dr Lee Willett, an analyst at UK-based defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, says initial operations suggest current laser-based systemsare useful despite the conditions.
Although GPS weapons were initially less accurate than the laser-guided equivalents, the gap is closing, say military sources.
Available sensors to pinpoint targets range from airborne assets such as the NorthropGrumman E-8JSTARS air-to-ground surveillance platform and a host of unmanned air vehicles including the same company's RQ-4 Global Hawk. Closer to the frontline there will be forward air controllers, while artillery units typically have target-finding radar and smaller, tactical unmanned air vehicles.
Network-centric warfare is rapidly becoming a buzzword of this war and its introduction should provide better, more timely, information for targeting.
Source: Flight International
