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DCLnews
Exclusive
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.
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PERSPECTIVES |
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TECHNICAL MANUALS Hi-Tech
vs. Low Tech Today military
tech manuals tend to be in electronic format.
But it could be argued that, in some cases,
print manuals are the best way to get the "bigger
picture"... Click here to find out more |
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
DCLnews is
keen to develop this argument. So if you have any comments or
relevant stories, please send them to the editorial desk: jshreeve@dclab.com
And
while you're at it, why not...
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