In
the fifth in a series of articles on the characteristics of aerospace
power, WGCDR David Thiele looks at the importance of precision
ON
May 13, 1972, two USAF Phantom F-4 aircraft destroyed the bridge
over the Ma River at Thanh Hoa, Vietnam in the first wartime application
of precision-guided weapons.
This bridge was on the main communication route from Hanoi to
the south and it had been unsuccessfully attacked by more than
700 sorties since April 1965.
One of the most significant advances in weapon technology has
been the advent of precision-guided munitions (PGMs).
However, precision is not the sole domain of PGMs, rather it is
achieved simply by matching the right weapon to the target.
Precision comes from being able to strike the desired target while
avoiding incidental casualties or unwanted (collateral) damage.
For example, if a major military facility was housed close to
a hospital, then the aim would be to destroy the military facility
while leaving the hospital unscathed.
Modern weapons can ensure that the damage will be contained to
the military building while precision guidance will ensure the
accurate delivery of that weapon.
In contrast, if we were aiming to destroy an area target such
as an airbase, then we could use a formation of F-111 bombers
dropping conventional “dumb” bombs.
Both are examples of precision – matching the right weapons
to targets.
One of the more dramatic examples of the effectiveness of precision
weapons can be found in comparing photographs from the bombing
of an airfield in World War II to those from the Kosovo conflict
or the Gulf War.
In WWII, the airfield would be peppered with a large number of
seemingly random craters. In modern warfare, the same target would
have been surgically taken out with only eight to 10 craters,
placed at the key points (such as runway/taxiway intersections),
to disable the use of the airfield rather than simply obliterating
the entire complex.
In WWII, for a variety of factors, precision was almost impossible.
Today our technology, tactics and weapon systems mean we can strike
precisely.
The use of precision means that we no longer have to destroy a
target in order to create the effect we are looking to achieve.
This selective destruction also means that when the conflict ends,
the task of rebuilding becomes less demanding and normal life
can be returned to the civilian population in a much shorter time.
In the next issue, another two characteristics of aerospace power
– that of concurrent operations and tempo – will be
examined.
