[A-List] Why any war with Iraq will be over in a flash - timesonline.co.uk

["Ralph Johansen" <michele@xxxxxxxx>]

Times OnLine
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-523686,00.html

World News
December 24, 2002

Why any war with Iraq will be over in a flash
by Michael Evans

The power of America's technological trump cards

THE planned war against Iraq is intended to be one of the fastest
operations yet conducted, possibly using secret new weapons to overcome
Iraqi resistance and topple Saddam Hussein.

The creation of satellite-guided missiles has extended America's
superiority over Iraq by such a large margin that the first night of air
attacks could see hundreds of targets destroyed or damaged.

But America's new technological trump card is the microwave bomb, which
is capable of knocking out Baghdad's electricity supplies without
damaging a single building.

An early version of this concept was tested by the Americans in the 1999
air campaign over Yugoslavia when cluster bombs containing carbon fibre
filaments were dropped on electricity supply lines in Belgrade and other
cities, causing massive short-circuits.

If it is deployed, the latest "directed energy weapon" would involve
bathing areas of Baghdad in waves of high-frequency electromagnetic
pulses, crippling computers and power supplies linking the Iraqi capital
to the country's air defences.

However, Rob Hewson, Editor of Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, said: "The
Americans are being deliberately vague about these directed energy
weapons.

"They have reached an advanced stage in development and have been
tested. Basically, a microwave weapon would fry the electrics, but it
would be indiscriminate, not just turning off electricity for Iraq's
radar stations, but also affecting power to hospitals and schools.

"Will the Americans risk using such a weapon?" It will also be a laptop
war. One of the key lessons learnt from Afghanistan, which will be put
to good use in Iraq, was the ability of special forces, armed with
backpack, satellite-connected laptops, to communicate by data-link with
every type of aircraft.

The covert soldiers were able to use a marker pen on their laptop
screens to pinpoint moving targets, guiding bombs to within a few feet
of the enemy, if not a direct hit.

Twelve years ago, it was the F117 Stealth fighter and Tomahawk cruise
missile which dominated the battlefield.

This time, if war becomes necessary, it will be the satellite-linked
Joint Direct Attack Munition (Jdam), the B2 Stealth Bomber, and unmanned
spy drones watching every move on the ground which will play the big
roles in determining Saddam's fate.

The whole thrust of the new campaign against Saddam would be based on
high-tech, high-speed, and ultra highimpact.

The Jdam is just a tail-kit attached to a "dumb" bomb, converting it
into one of the smartest weapon systems around.

The kits, each costing "just" £16,500 ? extraordinarily cheap in a
superpower's warfighting inventory ? link the 1,000lb or 2,000lb bomb to
the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) network, guaranteeing
greater accuracy than ever before.

In a space shuttle mission in 2000, sponsored by the Pentagon's National
Imagery and Mapping Agency, special radars collected topographic data
for about 80 per cent of the globe, minutely plotting the undulations of
the Earth's surface. With this information, the Jdam bomb will be
capable of landing within a few yards of its target.

Another new weapon will be crucial in destroying targets on the move,
such as Iraqi tanks and artillery.

The Joint Standoff Weapon (Jsow) is known as a "launch-and-leave"
system, fired from an aircraft at a range of about 40 miles and at high
altitude.

The missile receives in-flight target updates from a US Air
Force-converted Boeing 707-300, known as an E8C Joint Surveillance
Target Attack Radar System (Joint Stars) aircraft.

The Jsow is currently fitted to B2s, B52s, F16s and the carrier-based
FA18s.

Four other post-1991 Gulf War weapon systems will also have a big impact
on Iraq because they played a noticeably significant role in the
campaign over Afghanistan. They are:

o The B2 Stealth bomber, to be based at Diego Garcia, the British-owned
Indian Ocean island, and possibly at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

It is estimated that on the first night of air attacks on Iraq, 16 B2s,
armed with Jdams, would be able to hit more than 200 targets. This would
have taken several weeks in the 1991 war.

o The Predator unmanned spy drone, armed with Hellfire missiles. This
system is not invulnerable, but it transformed the battlefield in
Afghanistan by providing accurate information of al-Qaeda and Taleban
movements there.

A Hellfire fired by a Predator using remote control killed leading
al-Qaeda figures travelling in a vehicle in Yemen last month.

o Thermobaric bombs, which are fuel-rich explosives that suck air out of
a confined space, creating a lethal combination of heat and pressure.

They were used for the first time in Afghanistan against Osama bin
Laden's suspected cave hideouts. The special warheads were integrated
into laser-guided missiles launched by F15s.

The explosives, which burn for longer than conventional explosives,
would be particularly effective at incinerating chemical and biological
agents.

The US Marines are getting shoulder-mounted thermobaric weapons which,
if ready in time for a war with Iraq, could have devastating potential
in streetfighting in Baghdad.

o The FA18E/F Super Hornet, which is about 25 per cent larger than its
predecessor. It also has a greater range and more armaments. The first
operational Super Hornets were put on board the aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln.

With such an array of firepower, the US will inevitably dwarf anything
Britain will be able to contribute.

The Royal Navy has landattack Tomahawk cruise missiles, but relatively
few. The RAF is also waiting for its first delivery of a new
air-launched cruise missile called Storm Shadow. It's behind schedule
and may not be ready in time.

However, even if production is rushed through, Mr Hewson of Jane's said
that the RAF was hardly likely to fire too many of them; they each cost
about £500,000.

"That's like launching a three-bedroom house in London at an Iraqi
target," he said.

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