Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air ...

OPERATIONS BETWEEN VIETNAM AND THE PERSIAN GULF
fetched to assert that it overturned the military balance as
well. The Soviets began their withdrawal from the conflict in
February 1989. Defeat in Afghanistan surely was a factor in
the demise of the Soviet Union only a short time later. 48
Summary
Any war is difficult to evaluate, but small wars are especially
tricky. Because the amount of equipment used is usually small
and for the most part less than the most modern, it is difficult
to extrapolate the findings into more general and future uses.
When wars are fought between other countries, problems of
analysis increase. Nevertheless, war is the only laboratory the
soldier has, and he or she must make the most of it.
The 1973 Arab-Israeli War presented many surprises, from
its origin to the way it was fought. The Arabs defied the conventional
wisdom in two respects: by attacking a country having
a superior military and attacking without air superiority. Initially,
the Arabs used their air forces sparingly and advanced
under a dense and lethal umbrella of SAMs and guns. This air
defense proved effective and inflicted heavy losses on the Israeli
air force. Arab missiles and guns sorely tested the IAF; but,
the Israelis changed their tactics, adopted new equipment,
persisted, and won. However, Arab air defenses did not permit
the Israelis to fight the air and ground war as they had in 1967
and as they would have liked. Because of this war, some commentators
spoke of the demise of the tank and aircraft, victims
of the modern missile. The defense seemed to be supreme.
However, the wars of 1982 seemingly offered different lessons.
The IAF won a striking victory against Syrian aircraft and SAMs.
This came about with coordinated efforts of all arms and especially
with high-technology equipment such as ARMs, remotely
piloted vehicles (RPV), and electronics aircraft.
The implications of the war in the Falklands appear less
clear. It might be thought of as the converse of Vietnam; that
is, a relatively sophisticated but small British force pitted against
a larger but less-modern Argentine one. The Argentines used
mostly old aircraft and old bombs, without ECM protection
and at the limits of their range. Not surprisingly, the British,
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