Individual enemy capabilities or unexpected combat circumstances may require an urgent response when war is imminent or has broken out.Placing self-contained IR emitters on armored vehicles to reduce the likelihood of friendly fire casualties,or installing GPS receivers in ground reconnaissance vehicles for improved navigation,are examples of simple modifications witnessed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.Modern combat aircraft,however,are more highly integrated and dynamic systems than most other weapons.Even small modifications can have a detrimental affect on the efficiency of subsystems and on the vehicle as a whole.the airborne environment can be very stressful to equipment not specifically designed to operate in it,making many modification designs complex and time consuming.And yet,airborne assets are so valuable in modern combat that the ability to introduce safe and effective modifications to aircraft in response to the exigencies of warfare can be vital to success and to reducing combat losses.Such modifications during war are possible,and the conventional wisdom that air arms must go to war 'dressed as you are' is not strictly true.Testing these modifications is vital prior to fielding,and the flight test community must be prepared to support these projects quickly with the necessary resources.
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