Return-Path: <sentto-279987-3092-1003419086-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:32:11 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 18491 invoked by uid 510); 18 Oct 2001 15:31:04 -0000 Received: from n1.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.51) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 18 Oct 2001 15:31:04 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-3092-1003419086-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.1.221] by n1.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 18 Oct 2001 15:31:26 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_0_1); 18 Oct 2001 15:31:26 -0000 Received: (qmail 1526 invoked from network); 18 Oct 2001 15:31:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by 10.1.1.221 with QMQP; 18 Oct 2001 15:31:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 18 Oct 2001 15:31:25 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id IAA14297 for iwar@onelist.com; Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:31:24 -0700 Message-Id: <200110181531.IAA14297@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 08:31:22 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Loud.U.S..Gunships.Wage.War.On.Psychological.Level,.Too] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Norfolk Virginian-Pilot October 17, 2001 Loud U.S. Gunships Wage War On Psychological Level, Too By Dale Eisman, The Virginian-Pilot WASHINGTON -- A pair of Air Force AC-130 Spectre gunships, their port sides bristling with cannons, gatling guns, even a howitzer, joined in Monday's attacks on the Taliban, swooping in to pour fire on troops and facilities and trying, U.S. officials acknowledged, to put a serious scare into their targets. Loud and slow-moving, the converted cargo planes provide an easy target for anti-aircraft batteries and surface-to-air missiles, and they may seem out of place at a time when the U.S. military is placing a premium on speed and stealth in the air. But military planners say the planes' use over Afghanistan underscores America's confidence that it controls those skies and will use them to deliver relentless, punishing attacks on troops as well as the quick strikes fighter aircraft have been directing at ammunition dumps, radar sites and command centers. ``There is a psychological effect in all that we're trying to do. . . '' Marine Corps. Lt. Gen. Gregory S. Newbold told reporters Tuesday. The AC-130 ``provides a presence that is visible, or at least audible,'' Newbold added. ``And for that reason it has psychological impact. . . . The moral is to the physical as three is to one, and the psychological effect here is very important.'' The AC-130's guns can be precisely aimed, even from high altitude, to limit collateral damage, said Newbold, operations director for the Pentagon's Joint Staff. With a range of more than 1,500 miles, the planes can loiter for hours over a battlefield to pick off ground forces as they emerge. Each of the gunships carries a crew of 14, including four gunners, and specialists trained to operate satellite navigation equipment, sensors and a television camera that scans the ground closely, even in near darkness. Those systems help the AC-130 locate and destroy targets that are missed by fighters passing over the battlefield at 300 knots, Newbold said. Early versions of the AC-130 are credited with destroying about 10,000 vehicles during the Vietnam War, according to GlobalSecurity.org, an Internet site devoted to analyzing military programs. They also provided air cover for ground forces during the U.S. attacks on Grenada and Panama in the 1980s and saw action over Somalia and Bosnia in the 1990s. The Air Force has 13 of the newest models, the AC-130U. It has been in service since the mid-1990s and is ``the most complex aircraft weapon system in the world,'' GlobalSecurity says on its Web site. ``It has more than 609,000 lines of code in its mission computers and avionics systems.'' Though the Air Force's total fleet of 21 AC-130s is attached to the service's ``special operations command,'' Newbold cautioned that their use isn't necessarily a sign that the United States is about to call on its special forces troops for ground operations. The AC-130's infrared sensors are particularly useful in night operations -- the Air Force typically uses the aircraft under cover of darkness -- and the United States can equip friendly forces on the ground with tags that will allow the sensors to distinguish them from enemy troops who may be just a few yards away. Newbold sidestepped a question on whether troops of the Afghan Northern Alliance, which the United States is supporting against the Taliban, have been given those tags. ``I wouldn't eliminate any capability from causing worry and anxiety to the Taliban leadership. Because sooner or later they're going to have to worry about it,'' he said. ------------------------ Yahoo! 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