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Slingshots & Microchips
Modern warfare blends high and low technology
to combat terrorist threat

ALTHOUGH THE SECURITY and armed forces rely heavily on technology, low tech solutions often prove integral to the success of operations. A few years back, for example, the CIA reportedly used an Unmanned Aerial Search Vehicle (UAV) to track a Serbian war criminal's car in Bosnia-Herzegovina and guided UN troops in to arrest him. It was a human tip off, however, that told the agency where to send the plane in the first place.

The current hunt for Osama bin Laden utilizes a similar form of technology. Spy satellites high up in the atmosphere take photographs of activity on the ground. With this level of technology, you'd think getting a snapshot of public enemy no 1 would be easy. But the fact is, bin Laden isn't going to walk out of his cave, look up at the sky, and allow himself to be recognized by one the spy satellites. And even if he did, the imaging capabilities of these "big birds" aren't as omnipotent as most people imagine.

Apart from the obvious limitation of only being able to take pictures from above, they have a maximum resolution of 10cm per pixel, which is insufficient to tell a man from a woman or a soldier from a civilian. Admittedly, the latest development, the hyperspectral camera, can see through foliage and identify different materials such as a plywood dummy tank. The first hyperspectral satellite was launched in October - but it's a prototype and has a resolution of only 8m.

Like Looking For Hay In A Haystack
Despite the low resolution, such tools could locate bin Laden if only someone knew where to point them. Afghanistan is a big country and bin Laden is one man among many. "It's not like looking for a needle in a haystack," said John Pike, director of the Washington think tank, GlobalSecurity.org. "It's like looking for hay in a haystack..."

He, like many other military commentators, believes that the best way to beat the terrorist threat is to play them at their own game with fast moving guerrilla-like units.

This is where Special Forces come in. Working in squads as small as four men, teams have been flown into Afghanistan at night by helicopter. Their mission is to blend into the scenery, in some cases for weeks, and lie in wait watching for clues as to the whereabouts of bin Laden and his lieutenants. If they can be found, the plan is to snatch or kill them. This is about as low tech as you can get, and involves surviving off rations and living close to nature (which is harsh, not idyllic).

Tech Enabled Guerrillas
Although operating like guerrillas, Special Forces also make good use of technology. To aid in the hunt for bin Laden Special Forces units are carrying ground sensors that employ cameras, infrared and seismic detectors. If they get wind that bin Laden is in a specific locale, this equipment will help them pin-point (and hopefully) capture him.

This blend of high and low tech is becoming increasingly important in modern warfare. The United States may have developed the best military in the world - and since the Gulf War no-one in their right mind would take on the U.S. tank-for-tank, plane-for-plane. But after September 11th everything changed. Terrorists using low tech tactics scored a terrible "victory" against the greatest super-power on Earth.

It was a David and Goliath scenario (though in this case "David" was the bad guy). The terrorists either consciously or unconsciously recognized that the best way to take on the most powerful nation in the world was to sneak in by the back door with a slingshot.

Strong Learning From The Weak
A similar scenario is found in Oriental martial arts: the smaller, apparently weaker fighter, can defeat a stronger opponent by turning his strength against him. But this can work both ways. There's nothing to stop the bigger guy learning the tactics of his smaller opponent. That way, he'll have both strength and guile on his side - which has got to be an undefeatable combination. And this is what the U.S. is doing: metaphorically speaking, it's equipping its forces with microchips and slingshots. By doing so, it will be well-placed to successfully deal with the type conflicts that the 21st century could throw at us.  

DCLnews Editorial
12/3/2001

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