paulf@csl.ncsu.edu (Paul Franzon) (08/15/90)
From: paulf@csl.ncsu.edu (Paul Franzon) There have been a number of questions on the net lately regarding this conflict which I can answer from unclassified sources (mainly the USNI civilian intelligence data base): > A better question would be, how do their pilots compare? As the Israelis > Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology Apparently, their pilots are pretty poor except those that have been trained by France to fly Mirage F1s. It was an F1 that killed the USS Stark. >From: tom@ISF.Unisys.COM (Tom Jewell) > >It seems that any major conflict the US (et al) has with Iraq >has many parallels with the Korean War. With relativly small >effort, it seems that we would be able to have complete >air and sea superiority, but would be facing a more numerous >enemy. Is this Iraq does not have the backing of a world power. Their (logistical) ability to fight a sustained major conflict is measured in days, not years. Iraq also has a very low literacy rate. Their ability to maintain their tanks, etc, and ability to supply the right ammo, parts etc across several hundred miles of dessert would not be high. HOWEVER, they have had lots of practice lately against the Iranians. They tend to use human wave rather than Soviet tactics I believe. Remember Iraq may end up fighting a 4 front war -- Saudi, Iran, the Kurds in the North, and Turkey. > Various comments on wearing Chemical gear in the desert. US troops often train in hot weather with all the gear on. Summer in North Carolina reaches 100F + 100% humidity =approx= 120F dry heat. [mod.note: Hmmm... if the suits aren't permeable, though, it wouldn't seem appropriate to consider the humidity; humidity inside the suit will soon reach 100% regardless. If this is true (?) then the suits would certainly be less bearable at 120F than at 100F. - Bill ] The 82nd boys routinely do pack marches with all the NBC gear on. Whenever troops deploy to the National Training Center (in the CA desert) they wear their NBC (MOPP) suits for two weeks. It is very uncomfortable and your ability to function is reduced but one "Do or dies". Iraq does not issues their troops protective gear (according to my sources.) In the recent Iran war they sacrificed troops in chemically supported attacks because of this. BTW, Europe has far superior chemical gear which the US Army is not allowed to buy because it is not made here. > Scud missiles The range of the A1 "Hussein" (what Iraq calls their modified SCUD, if I recall right -- what an ego) is less than 400 miles (NY Times, last Friday.) I recall that they have only about 150 of these, making them more likely to be used as Operational and Strategic, rather than as Tactical weapons (in my estimate.) Paul Franzon (Reserve Infantry Officer, but speaking unofficially here, purely from public sources.)