Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 11
9. Precision. The development of precision guided munitions (PGMs) is one of <strong>the</strong> great
military revolutions of our age. These weapons, which continue to evolve, have generated
several fundamental revisions in <strong>the</strong> way we plan military campaigns. 491
Although used in Vietnam, PGMs truly came into <strong>the</strong>ir own during <strong>the</strong> Persian Gulf
War of 1991. Television networks showed cockpit videos detailing <strong>the</strong> accuracy of <strong>the</strong>se
weapons so frequently that <strong>the</strong>y became one of <strong>the</strong> defining images of that war: <strong>the</strong>
public saw bombs going down chimneys, through doors, <strong>and</strong> into specific windows. “<strong>Air</strong>shaft
accuracy” had become so routine that everyone expected it. When American aircraft
struck Serbian targets in Bosnia in 1995 <strong>and</strong> Serbia/Kosovo in 1999, <strong>the</strong>y used PGMs
almost exclusively in populated areas. Once again, <strong>the</strong> accuracy of <strong>the</strong>se weapons was
extraordinary. Visitors to Serbia were amazed to see radio towers neatly separated from
<strong>the</strong>ir concrete bases <strong>and</strong> toppled, while civilian buildings not more than 50 feet away
remained untouched. In ano<strong>the</strong>r instance, <strong>the</strong> bombing razed a Serbian defence facility
but left buildings on ei<strong>the</strong>r side largely unsca<strong>the</strong>d.
PGMs have reduced by orders of magnitude <strong>the</strong> number of sorties required to neutralise
a given target. This reduction in sorties has a direct relation on <strong>the</strong> logistics tail required
for an air campaign. Simply put, fewer weapons mean fewer sorties, which in turn mean
fewer aircrew <strong>and</strong> maintenance personnel, less fuel, less ordnance, <strong>and</strong> fewer spare parts.
These reductions cause a cascading effect on <strong>the</strong> number of support personnel required
in-<strong>the</strong>atre to supply <strong>and</strong> maintain <strong>the</strong>se fewer numbers of aircraft. Because many of
<strong>the</strong>se personnel <strong>and</strong> much of <strong>the</strong> materiel must come from <strong>the</strong> US, <strong>the</strong>ir reduction puts a
correspondingly lighter load on <strong>the</strong> mobility forces that deploy <strong>and</strong> sustain <strong>the</strong>se assets.
PGMs are <strong>the</strong> gifts that keep on giving.
Finally, <strong>and</strong> perhaps most importantly, <strong>the</strong> use of PGMs ensures less casualties to both
sides. Because <strong>the</strong>se new weapons have such a high probability of success, generally only
a single aircraft is needed to neutralise a given target. 492 Compare this to <strong>the</strong> thous<strong>and</strong>s
of aircrew members who flew into harm’s way in times past. In addition, PGMs mean
dramatically less collateral damage <strong>and</strong> fewer civilian casualties. In <strong>the</strong> 1991 Gulf War,
although thous<strong>and</strong>s of tons of bombs were dropped on Iraq, damage to <strong>the</strong> civilian
population was minor, amazing western observers. 493 The next sizable conflict was in 1995
when force was used to halt <strong>the</strong> fighting in Bosnia between <strong>the</strong> various factions. According
to Slobodan Milosevic (who supported <strong>the</strong> Bosnian Serbs), perhaps twenty-five civilians
died from NATO’s two-week air campaign. To stop ethnic violence by Serbs in Kosovo,
in 1999 NATO launched Operation Allied Force. After a 78-day air campaign, Milosevic
capitulated. Despite <strong>the</strong> duration <strong>and</strong> intensity of this air assault, Human Rights Watch
estimated that fewer than 500 civilians were killed. 494 The use of air power in Afghanistan
<strong>and</strong> Iraq in <strong>the</strong> aftermath of 9/11 was similarly discriminate <strong>and</strong> effective.
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 201