U.S. Weapons: The Low-Intensity Threat is Not Necessarily a Low-Technology Threat

摘要

The potential LIW scenarios and weapons that U.S. armed forces face are diverseand pervasive. Prominent in the LIW threat are weapons supplied by some Western countries, including the United States and other major NATO nations, that can possess operating characteristics different from the Soviet weapons that U.S. forces have prepared to face in high-intensity warfare. Low-intensity warfare is not necessarily low-technology warfare. In recent LIW, current U.S. defense hardware has exhibited numerous instances of unsuccessful employment of significant limitations. In the four categories of systems we reviewed certain unguided munitions were effective; however, some serious problems were also demonstrated; various precision-guided munitions showed a poor success ratio and a significant number of limitations relating to availability, weather restrictions, ease of employment, inherent technical constraints, and other limitations; adequate, interoperable joint communications equipment has not always been on hand; and helicopters, while versatile, have exhibited vulnerability described by some lessons-learned reports as unacceptable. (JHD)