Preparations For A Conflict With Iraq
Critical Military Assets
Low Density/High Demand - Everybody Will Want One

Transportation - If a "rolling start" strategy is used to bring tens of thousands of Army troops from the United States and Europe into the Gulf region, a tremendous airlift operation will be required. Overall, expect heavy use of jumbo C-5, C-17 and C-130 transport aircraft to handle such a massive movement of people and equipment. These aircraft will probably have to be augmented by commercially leased 747s to quickly bring personnel and light equipment to operating areas in the Gulf theater.

Note: The C-17 Globemaster III has been the workhorse and centerpiece for logistic support at austere runways throughout operations in Afghanistan. The same can be expected with Iraqi operations. The C-17's reliability and maintainability have proven to be excellent. There are 126 C-5 Galaxy cargo carriers and 100 C-17's in the U.S. inventory. C-5's configured to transport troops can carry 300 personnel, while C-17's can carry 100.

Midair refueling tankers - The military's fleets of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers will be strained to the maximum in order to support the envisioned mammoth air campaign. These aircraft are not in the "low density" category — they are available in relatively large numbers but they are old, maintenance-intensive aircraft (with an average age of 38 years). There are 59 KC-10 and 546 KC-135 aircraft in the Air Force inventory. Marine Corps and Navy forces have a combined tanker fleet of fewer than 200. British RAF VC10 and L-1011 Tri-Star tanker aircraft will probably be needed to augment the air-to-air refueling requirements of all coalition aircraft.

Note: The performance, reliability and professionalism of the Royal Air Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, as well as Operations Northern and Southern Watch, has been very highly praised by all U.S. Navy and Air Force pilots in the region.

Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance assets - U-2, E-3 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System), E-8 JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System), EC-130E ABCCC (Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center), EC-130H Compass Call, and RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft are all critical platforms that have long been in the LDHD category.

AWACS - The E-3 aircraft monitor and control the air war. The fleet continues to be stretched thin by requirements around the globe, ranging from combat air patrols over U.S. cities, to operations in Afghanistan, to counterdrug operations in the Caribbean, to supporting enforcement of "no-fly" zones in northern and southern Iraq. There are 33 aircraft in the Air Force inventory, and possible crew shortages are a concern. These aircraft would be be critical during any major conflict with Iraq, and some of their current missions will likely be performed by NATO and British AWACs, and U.S. Navy E-2s and P-3s.

Joint STARS - The Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System is a long-range, all-weather, air-to-ground surveillance system designed to locate, classify and track ground targets such as mobile Iraqi forces, tanks and Scud missiles. The multimode radar system is capable of providing targeting and battle management data to command centers throughout the Persian Gulf region. These aircraft, (total inventory of 12) would also be key in an Iraq conflict.

The EC-130E ABCCC - The Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center (ABCCC) is a modified C-130 "Hercules" aircraft. There are only seven of these aircraft. The control center's 12-person battlestaff includes operations, intelligence and communications personnel. Its primary mission is to provide flexibility in the overall control of tactical air resources and to maintain positive control of air operations. ABCCC will direct offensive air support towards fast-emerging targets and be an important asset in controlling tactical aircraft performing "targets of opportunity" missions, including Scud hunting.

Compass Call - The EC-130H is the only available wide-area offensive information warfare platform. The United States has a total inventory of 14 aircraft. Compass Call aircraft provide disruptive communications jamming and other unique capabilities to prevent an enemy's communications or degrade the transfer of information essential to command and control of weapon systems.

Commando Solo - The EC-130E/RR aircraft is the only US Air Force asset whose mission is to support psychological operations (PSYOPs). There are only six of these aircraft. The 193rd Special Operations Wing performs this unique mission with these specially configured aircraft, which can control the electronic spectrum of radio, television, and military communication bands in a focused area. Signals, transmissions and receptions can be "substituted" or jammed. Iraqi military computers can be invaded, manipulated and disabled. Use of this aircraft is part of an ambitious, massive multimedia campaign, already underway; to create an environment in the Iraqi military that promotes surrendering or defecting once an invasion starts.

Note: During Desert Storm, over a seven-week period, 29 million leaflets in at least 14 varieties were dropped behind enemy lines, allegedly reaching approximately 98 percent of the 300,000 troops. Radio and loudspeaker broadcasts combined with these PSYOP leaflet programs were major motivating factors to the estimated 100,000 soldiers who surrendered or deserted by the end of the war without firing a shot.

Rivet Joint - The RC-135V/W surveillance aircraft is equipped with an extensive array of sophisticated intelligence/electronic/communication gathering equipment that is capable of analyzing the entire electronic battlefield. There are 21 in the Air Force inventory. Rivet Joint aircraft, like the AWACS airborne- and JSTARS ground-surveillance platforms, are commercial 707 derivatives.

(For information concerning Image Intelligence (IMINT) satellites, see CDI's Military Reconaissance Satellite page).

Tactical Electronic Jammers - The Navy's EA-6B Prowler is the only aircraft in the U.S. inventory that is solely dedicated to the suppression of enemy air defenses, and has been in high demand during every military operation the United States has recently executed or planned. The Prowler fleet consists of 122 EA-6Bs, with just over 100 usually available for combat. The last Prowler came off the production line over 10 years ago. The average age of EA-6B aircraft in the fleet is now over 20 years. To augment its 11 carrier-based Prowler squadrons and four Marine squadrons, the Navy has four additional land-based squadrons to support the Air Force. Each carrier air wing has a squadron of four or five Prowlers. These aircraft are maintenance intensive, have suffered severe aircraft engine shortages, and have experienced wing fatigue problems that have restricted their flying capabilities. In the spring of 2002, it was reported to the House Appropriations Committee that only 65 of the 122 aircraft were in service, with 40 aircraft grounded awaiting engine replacements. The available Prowlers, however, will be called on heavily around the clock during combat operations with Iraq.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) - In addition to regularly scheduled surveillance coverage by conventional U-2 aircraft, expect the Predator UAV, already operating in southern Iraq, to be in high demand throughout any combat operations. The RQ-1 Predator can loiter over a target for 24 hours and has a range of 500 miles. Predators have an array of sophisticated sensors, including synthetic aperture radar and electro-optical infrared cameras that can produce still photographs and live videos of activities on the ground from more than 10,000 feet in the air. They will play a key role in the intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance (ISR) mission and Scud hunting operations across all of Iraq. Tactics using Predators armed with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles have been refined through actual operations in Afghanistan and extensive work done by U.S. Navy and Air Force strike warfare tacticians. Real-time streaming video linkage between AC-130 gunships and Predators is now a proven concept, first tried in Afghanistan, that will be exploited in any future conflict. The Air Force has available about 12 operational Predator UAVs in two squadrons.

The Global Hawk UAV carries video cameras that work day or night and still cameras that can photograph through cloud cover. It can stay airborne for more than 40 hours and is designed to fly well above any battlefield, at about 65,000 feet, safely out of range of many anti-aircraft weapons. Global Hawk can loiter over a target area for more than a day to transmit reconnaissance pictures back to a base. Six have been built and a seventh is just being completed. Three have crashed, including two used in the conflict in Afghanistan, leaving only four available in the current inventory.

Missile Defenses - The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) low-to high-altitude air defense system is the latest version of the Patriot intended to counter the Scud threat. Only 38 of the most up-to-date- missiles have been delivered — or enough to deploy just two Army air defense batteries. Fifteen more missiles are due for delivery by the end of this month.

Everybody wants them. Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and possibly the Kurds in Northern Iraq are all in need of Patriot protection. Israeli defense officials have said that components of the PAC-3 could be sent to improve their existing theatre ballistic missile defense batteries deployed around the country. Turkey has also asked Washington to provide air defenses to protect strategic military facilities on its soil before any hostilities start with Iraq.

Note: The flight time of an Iraqi Scud to a target in Israel is only about six or seven minutes.

 

Rear Adm. (Ret.) Stephen H. Baker CDI Senior Advisor sbaker@cdi.org

Standard Version

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