Changing Nature of Warfare Topic 4 Flashcards
Cause of the First Gulf War 3
In august 1990 saddam hussein, dictator of Iraq invades tiny but oil rich state of Kuwait. He did not expect the USA to object as Iraq and the USA had formerly been allies.
Kuwait and Iraq have ⅕ of the world’s oil supply so this invasion would give Iraq a pretty big monopoly over oil and it would put Hussein in a position to threaten Saudi-Arabia which is Sunni (Iraq is shia)
USA supported by britain interfere as they want to protect their access to Kuwaiti oil. They launch operation desert shield which aims to force Saddam out of Kuwait. This had two stages:
Statistics for Phase 1 of Operation Desert Shield: Air offensive 5
Coalition used 2 250 aircrafts
They flew 100 000 individual missions
500,000 troops
They dropped 88, 500 t of bombs
They destroyed 105 aircrafts on the ground and shot down 36
Coalition lost 75 aircrafts and only 42 were shot down the others were lost in accidents
Events of Phase 1: air offensive
air offensive against Iraq launched on 16 january 1991. Stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and precision-guided weapons damaged Iraq’s military and economic infrastructure. - also huge deployment of troops, ultimately 500 000
Events and Statistics for Phase 2 of FGW:
Phase 2: operation desert saber and desert storm launched on 23 February 1991. Land forces advance into Kuwait and liberate the country in 4 days
Several thousand Iraqi tanks destroyed
Thousands of Iraqi troops killed
Coalition lost 31 tanks
Iraqis lost 3 300 tanks (nearly their entire force)
Iraqi Missiles: FGW vs Coatlition
Scud ballistic missiles small , fast and accurate Largest single life lost on coalition due to these missiles (28 soldiers) → shows continuing danger missiles have Patriot missiles Unreliable
Comparison of Aircraft: FGW
American F-16 ‘fighting falcon’ and F-117 ‘Nighthawk’
Stealth technology
Most sophisticated and modern technology systems in the world
2 250 planes
Russian MiG 21 and MiG 23 Cold war era Poorly trained pilots Only 550 planes Lost 38 in the first week The aircrafts were evacuated to Iran to keep them safe cumbersome
Comparison of Tanks: FGW
American M1 abrams tanks Range of main gun 2.5km Electronic range finding technology Night vision No tanks were destroyed by Iraq accurate
Russian T-72
Range of main gun 2km
Some protection from chemical and biological weapons
Cheap and easy to maintain
No technology to improve aiming and firing gun
Inaccurate
Less maneuverable
Falklands War: 4 uses of aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier: played a huge role in the Falklands war as Falkland Islands were many 1000s of miles away from Britain and no aircraft could fly that distance, be able to launch an attack and fly back again.
Two aircraft carriers: Invincible and Hermes, served as floating airfields for Sea Harriers taking part in strikes on Port Stanley.
They protected the landings of British troops when they landed on the islands and eventually defeated the Argentine invaders.
21 Sea Harriers flew against 180 Mirage C fighters which could fly higher and faster. However, had better weaponry and technology.
Falklands War: extent of success of aircraft carriers
Extent: Aircraft carriers due to their huge size are vulnerable to submarine attack. 6 torpedoes were fired by the Argentinians, none of which hit their targets.
Example of super carriers and stats
1960: USS Enterprise was launched, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, with a 342 metre runway and aircraft carrying capacity of 90.
It could stay at sea indefinitely, with resupply from aircraft. It’s deck was long enough so that a large cargo aircraft could land safely.
Example of specialised carriers
Specialised carriers: HMS Ocean in 1995 which was smaller and launched helicopters. This acted as a launchpad for amphibious assaults. It could carry 830 troops and 40 helicopters.
Timeline of nuclear submarines developments: end of WW2 -2000
End of WW2 - submarines thought to be obsolete
ballistic missiles fitted to USS Tunny
1954 - USS Nautilus is first nuclear powered submarine
1959 - USS George Washington is nuclear powered and armed with nuclear weapons (SLBMs)
1959 - USSR launches K-19 (a nuclear submarine) but this is unreliable and dangerous
1960s - britain launches HMS Resolution which carries Polaris missiles
1993 - UK launches HMS Vangaurd which can also carry torpedoes with a 65 km range due to range-finding and sonar technology, can carry 16 nuclear weapons and is nuclear powered, armed with MIRVs
2000 - submarines improved so much they now render battleships vulnerable and obsolete
Advantages of Nuclear Submarines 4
Do not need to surface as independent of air
Run at high speeds for long periods due to nuclear reactor
Don’t need refueling so can remain underwater throughout their lifetime
Force enemy navies to waste resources searching large areas due to stealth technology
Disadvantages of nuclear submarines 3
Accident can occur because of the dangers in operating for a long time under the ocean
1963 USS Thresher sunk - 16 officers, 96 enlisted men, 21 civilians
2000 soviet Kursk sank during training - 118 crew members, destroyed due to explosion that detonated on board torpedoes
3 Uses of nuclear submarines
1981 - Falklands war
The nuclear submarine the HMS conqueror is used to sink the Argentinian battleship Belgrano killing 329 servicemen
First Gulf war
Submarines used to fire missiles for the first time, USS Louisville fires Tomahawk missiles as land target having secretly travelled through red sea
MAD
Even today and especially during the cold war these submarines act/acted as nuclear deterrent
Background and causes for Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Background:
1979 USSR invaded afghanistan and set up a puppet government (supported with 100,000 troops)
Why?
Brezhnev doctrine
A puppet government would give them more influence in the middle east
Occupation faced opposition from Muslim fundamentalist group Mujahideen.
What did the Guerrillas concentrate on attacking:
The Gorillas concentrated on both civilian and military tactics Bridges Roads Convoys Electric power system Industrial production
How did the USSR attempt to combat the guerrilla threat
The USSR tried (spent a lot of money) to deal with this threat but were unsuccessful so withdrew
Over 20,000 casualties
Most of country in the control of mujahideen
Proved the effectiveness of Guerilla tactics against an enemy with far more resources.
Reason for Mujahideen success: Terrain
Mountainous , perfect for ambushes
Reason for Mujahideen success: International Support
As well as training bases
From 1986 US ran operation cyclone
Supplied Mujahideen with stinger missiles to target and destroy USSR aircraft (helicopters)
70% hit rate - USSR lost 300 aircraft as a result
Reason for Mujahideen success: Hit and Run
Favored sabotage
E.g damaging power lines
Knocking out power lines and radio stations and blowing up government office buildings
Several 1000 supply trucks were lost by the use of IEDs
Reason for Mujahideen success: population support
Mujahideen recruited and supported by local population
At least 4,000 bases from which mujahideen operated
250,000 Afghans enlisted in mujahideen units
importance of 1st gulf war
This was the first time that the land campaign supported the air offensive, but still highlighted the importance of land warfare in directly defeating the enemy.
DEVELOPMENT: this increased use of air forces occurred as it risks less lives and the air technology was more developed
importance of falklands war
This conflict illustrated the importance of sea power in deciding the outcome of the war in particularly the submarine and aircraft carrier.
development to submarines
DEVELOPMENT: huge shift in use of submarines as both their power supply and weaponry underwent a major shift
USED: Falklands war, First Gulf war and general MAD
