US Department of Defense officials insist that precision-guided munitions used during a 16 February raid on Iraqi air defence radar sites around Baghdad were effective, despite reports to the contrary.
The appraisal based on initial battle damage assessments is contrary to media reports claiming that most of the Raytheon AGM-154A Joint Stand-Off Weapons (JSOW) launched from US Navy Boeing F/A-18C/Ds missed their targets.
Reports claim the errant glide bombs veered to the left of target, causing the USN to consider whether a software glitch, mishandling or a hardware problem threw the weapon's guidance system. The AGM-154A is a sub-munitions dispenser for use against soft targets.
The DoD declines to identify which weapons were used against the air defence sites. "We feel the strike had good effectiveness. It wasn't perfect, but we are satisfied with our weapons' performance," say officials.
JSOW's first combat action was against Iraqi air defences in 1999 and it has been used in the Balkans. The USN says "the weapon hit the intended aim-point 100% of the time during allied operations in Kosovo and Iraq." The USN considers JSOW "the biggest tactical advance in strike warfare in 15 years, making it one of the top weapons of choice."
Sources in London say that 36 weapons were dropped in the16 February operation, two of them 900kg (2,000lb) Raytheon Paveway III laser guided bombs dropped by Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR1s.
The sources said the new Yugoslav administration has revealed that the previous regime in Belgrade as well as China assisted Iraq in the development of its air defence system.
Developments in the air defence system, including fibre-optic links between sites, and its increased use in the past two months has been given by Washington and London as reasons for the strike.
Source: Flight International
