TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=91TT0209> <title> Jan. 28, 1991: High-Tech Payoff </title> <history> TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991 Jan. 28, 1991 War In The Gulf </history> <article> <source>Time Magazine</source> <hdr> THE GULF WAR, Page 30 THE WEAPONS High-Tech Payoff </hdr><body> Costly arms face their first combat use--and prove their worth By ED MAGNUSON--Reported by Bruce van Voorst/Dhahran With the largest air armada since World War II poised to strike in the gulf, the Jan. 15 deadline for a potential attack had been the focus of global attention. That raised the question of how, with 100 cruise missiles and more than 1,000 aircraft streaking toward targets in Iraq and Kuwait in the first hours of the war last week, the allies achieved what General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described as "tactical surprise." The answer: U.S. superiority in high-tech weaponry had blinded and crippled Iraq's air defenses. The latest generation of electronic warfare had come of age. "Sophistication has worked heavily in our favor," said Powell's predecessor, Admiral William Crowe, after the military claimed astonishing success. In the more than 1,300 sorties flown during the first 14 hours, only one U.S. and one British aircraft were lost. Iraq's initial feeble response seemed to bear out a prediction by Admiral Sergei Gorshkov, the founder of the modern Soviet navy, that "the next war will be won by the side that best exploits the electromagnetic spectrum." The U.S. and its allies achieved success with a mixture of weaponry--some employed in conflicts past, some never before committed to combat. There was risk involved: though the new systems had been frequently tested in development--and sometimes derided for failure to live up to their billing--no one was certain how they would perform under battle conditions. Most of the hardware had been designed for warfare against an enemy like the Soviet Union, which has its own sophisticated arsenal. Several of the weapons systems had only reached the production stage during Ronald Reagan's $2 trillion buildup. Now, against a less formidable enemy in a very different environment, the Pentagon was collecting big dividends. The technological edge had many facets. The Tomahawk cruise missiles, launched from Navy ships and flying no faster than a commercial airliner, used digital-mapping technology to penetrate beneath Iraqi radar and strike within 20 yds. of their targets. The Air Force's F-117A Stealth fighter led the aircraft strikes. Even when their radar detected an F-117A, the Iraqi air-defense weapons could not track it long enough to zero in. Other aircraft, including the F-4G Wild Weasel, launched missiles that homed in on the signals to knock out the emitting facility. That kept the Iraqis from coordinating their SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) and conventional antiaircraft fire. Some of the F-15E Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon attackers released their ordnance from as high as 20,000 ft., well above the light-caliber Iraqi flak. They, as well as the Navy's F/A-18 Hornets, also delivered laser-guided or other "smart" bombs to their targets. Not that the arrival of high-tech war has rendered all older, battle-tested weaponry obsolete. Much of the new technology has been mated to older aircraft. Eight-engined B-52 bombers, for example, for three decades the workhorses of the Strategic Air Command, can carry not only nuclear and conventional bombs but also AGM-142As, missiles guided by small jets that permit a launch as far as 55 miles from a target. Striking from bases in Saudi Arabia, the big bombers laid down vast carpets of destruction over numerous targets last week, including positions believed to be held by units of Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard. CRUISE MISSILES PURPOSE: Long-range attack USES: Launched from ships and submarines DISTINCTION: Can fly under radar; 1,500-mile range COST: $1 million Under a moonless sky over the Persian Gulf, 100 of these missiles initially blasted off from U.S. warships on a 700-mile flight to Iraq. Their TERCOM radar system compared landmarks with prerecorded maps to guide them to their targets. They struck nuclear, chemical and biological facilities. STEALTH FIGHTER PURPOSE: Long-range precision bombing USES: To penetrate air defenses undetected DISTINCTION: Extremely low radar profile COST: $106 million Taking off from bases in Saudi Arabia, 27 of these single-seat twin-engine planes were the first aircraft to hit such targets as command-and-control centers and fixed Scud missiles. The plane's radar-evading Stealth technology, based on shape and materials, proved highly successful in the gulf. ELECTRONIC JAMMING PURPOSE: Confuse or disable enemy radar USES: Carried by the Navy's EA-6B Prowler, the Air Force's F-4G Wild Weasel, EF-111A Raven and EC-130H Compass Call DISTINCTION: U.S. has the most advanced systems now deployed COST: For a Prowler, $32 million The latest electronic-countermeasure systems have been placed on new planes as well as some of the oldest in the U.S. inventory. In the gulf war, ECM aircraft were among the first over Iraq and Kuwait, jamming air-defense radars and crimping their ability to detect intruding planes. PATRIOT SYSTEM PURPOSE: Intercept aircraft and missiles USES: Protection of ground facilities DISTINCTION: Has remote launchers and high accuracy missiles COST: $123 million This system won high marks when a U.S. Army Patriot destroyed an Iraqi Scud missile in Saudi Arabia. A Patriot battery has eight launchers with four missiles each. Israel received two batteries in late December, but they were not yet operational. The U.S dispatched more, including crews, at week's end. SMART BOMBS PURPOSE: Precision bombing USES: Carried by most new fighter-bombers as well as B-52s DISTINCTION: Permits pilots to release bombs at safe distance from air defenses COST: Varies widely by type The success of last week's air strikes was largely owing to the use of "smart bombs." Deployed in many forms, they are guided either by lasers, infrared or TV cameras. In one such system, a crewman can follow images relayed from the bomb and keep it on course toward its target by moving a joystick. NIGHT-VISION DEVICES PURPOSE: Light amplification USES: For aircraft, tanks and infantry DISTINCTION: Can amplify starlight 25,000 times COST: $200,000 for the fighter-bomber version Night-vision goggles worn by fighter-bomber pilots, including those flying the F-15E Eagle that was used extensively in the gulf strikes, make objects visible at up to seven miles, even on dark nights. The device permits pilots to attack at low altitudes without using radar, which an enemy can detect. </body></article> </text>