Amnorix
05-04-2005, 06:31 AM
This is pretty interesting. In the old days, say World War II, calling in fire support meant either artillery or air support, and nothing was precise. Precision guided munitions were non-existent, and friendly fire deaths were unfortunately high.
These days, it's all about precision-guided munitions. A small team of American soldiers, for example, has access to unbelievable amounts of firepower via usually air-launched missiles.
Even in the first Gulf War, only something like 30% of the ordnance used was precision-based. 70% were dumb "let gravity do it's thing" bombs. By Afghanistan and Gulf War II, those percentages had more or less reversed.
Here's a good example of how it works. A city street in Iraq. A small firefight. Bad guys have some cover. Good guys call it in, it gets approved, and a few seconds later....
NOTE: This SITE is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. This specific video is, but the SITE is not.
http://www.big-boys.com/articles/iraqbomb.html
If you are interested in learning more about this stuff in general, the only good reference I can give you is "American Soldier", by General Tommy Franks, who was in charge of CentCom for both the Afghanistan and Iraq, err, actions or wars or whatever we're calling them.
These days, it's all about precision-guided munitions. A small team of American soldiers, for example, has access to unbelievable amounts of firepower via usually air-launched missiles.
Even in the first Gulf War, only something like 30% of the ordnance used was precision-based. 70% were dumb "let gravity do it's thing" bombs. By Afghanistan and Gulf War II, those percentages had more or less reversed.
Here's a good example of how it works. A city street in Iraq. A small firefight. Bad guys have some cover. Good guys call it in, it gets approved, and a few seconds later....
NOTE: This SITE is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. This specific video is, but the SITE is not.
http://www.big-boys.com/articles/iraqbomb.html
If you are interested in learning more about this stuff in general, the only good reference I can give you is "American Soldier", by General Tommy Franks, who was in charge of CentCom for both the Afghanistan and Iraq, err, actions or wars or whatever we're calling them.