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| Iraq |
| JDAM Putting Artillery Out of Business |
| 2005-11-16 |
| November 16, 2005: American smart bombs and missiles have been getting a major workout during the last few months of fighting in western Iraq, and have been about 75 percent accurate. The air force controllers, who travel with ground combat units, have used new equipment, and lots of combat experience, to get smart bombs on target within minutes. The air force controllers, and the bombers overhead, are getting smart bombs on target so quickly and accurately, that ground commanders are favoring the bombs over calling their artillery. This is partly because of the new 500 pound JDAM, which is a one shot solution to the typical terrorist tactic of running into a building to make a glorious last stand. The enemy gunmen never seem to catch on to the fact that going into a building, simply brings down a smart bomb within ten minutes. One bomb, one building. Artillery requires several shells to do the job, and our troops know that the enemy is more likely to survive a shelling than a bombing. There have been no serious friendly fire casualties. Troops often like to get as close to the target as possible, so they can rush it once the bomb goes off, to get any survivors (before they escape), or simply to occupy a new position before any nearby enemy fighters get their bearings again. In addition, there is also some use of Maverick and Hellfire missiles by helicopters and aircraft. But the smart bombs are preferred, because they leave the bombers immune to any ground fire. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #9 Let's just remember that artilley ahs a far shorter reaction time (tens of seconds, instead of tens of minutes) than aviation. If the ennemy is harrassing you with mortar fire and you have artillery (nowadays that means radar-controlled artillery) he will be able to shoot only once |
| Posted by: JFM 2005-11-16 17:43 |
| #8 "so your grandfather was a kamikaze pilot, huh? Bet he has a lot of stories" "nope" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-16 17:01 |
| #7 I am very sceptical of the manned or UCAV putting the artillery out of business in the long run. As the range and accuracy of artillery increases the factors of reduced risk to air crew will eventually come into play. One thing I am surprised we have not seen in Iraq is the return of the firebase concept in some areas. This could be accomplished in a number of different ways from mobile batteries of 155mm SP guns to orbiting BUFFs in areas where ground troops are conducting operations. The smaller aircraft are limited in their ordance capacity and loiter time unless refueling is an option. As to smart mortar rounds I would think that GPS and laser guided should be possible but what would the cost be compared to a TOW???????? Just my $.02 |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2005-11-16 16:07 |
| #6 Fly boys have been putting artillery out of business for 70 years. However, let me go out on a limb with a prediction. In 20 years, a manned warplane will a thing of the past, whereas arti will still be going strong (hint: there are such a thing as non-PC wars against competent---AA wise, enemy). |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-11-16 13:40 |
| #5 I recall some MLRS salvos in Iraq. It's a kind of war issue. In a conventional war, artillery is probably going to have a lower cost per boom because of the number of targets. High fixed cost, low variable cost. But in a guerilla war, which is essentially what we have now, the target density calls for a system that can respond to a lot of locations infrequently due to the target dispersion. So a low fixed cost high variable cost solution is actually cheaper. Now if they had pgm mortar rounds... |
| Posted by: Glolugum Thease1214 2005-11-16 12:41 |
| #4 The smart cannons I've seen recently are out of sight, but for such a mobile war, the JDAM seems much preferred. Plus, the smart artillery hasn't been deployed in Iraq yet has it? EP EP |
| Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding 2005-11-16 12:21 |
| #3 Damn, Ms. Wife, you're in a dry humor mood today, lol. Not that I'm complaining either. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2005-11-16 12:16 |
| #2 enemy gunmen never seem to catch on to the fact that going into a building, simply brings down a smart bomb How can they? The lesson itself wipes out the learner... Not that I'm complaining, you understand. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-11-16 11:07 |
| #1 One shot kill with 100% fatality rate is always prefered. Artillery is going the smart route too, with GPS and laser guided shells. They are more expensive, but you need fewer of them and they don't break stuff you don't want broken, so the cost evens out in the long run. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2005-11-16 09:46 |