European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 b the stars and stripes sunday february 24,1991war in the Gulf Man killer artillery casts Long Shadow on Battlefield multiple launch rocket system by David Tarrant i Brussels Bureau Brussels Belgium a artillerymen like to Call world War i the a a gunner swarm because of the Central role the relentless and massive artillery bombardment played in the conflict \ now 75 years later artillery still holds a crucial if not Pivotal position in the ground forces of both sides in the persian Gulf War. _ a artillery is still the greatest Man killer. There Are More casualties by artillery than by any other Type of weapon a said Eduard Foster a defense analyst with the Royal United services Institute in London. And artillery has come a Long Way since the Days of world War i when the British infantry sarcastically referred to it As the a Long Range sniper a what is most different is Modem artillery a deadly accuracy defense a experts said. A v a the Advent of precision guided artillery is a key Factor in modern warfare a said David Hobbs director of the science and technology committee with the North Atlantic Assembly nato s political Arm. Weapons such As the multiple launch rocket sys Tern Are making their Battle debuts in operation desert storm. About 130 of the systems Are in the Gulf Region. Each of the tracked Mars vehicles can fire salvos of 12 rockets a distance of almost 20 Miles. Each rocket hurls More than 600 bomb lets across an area the size of a football Field saturating unprotected ground forces and bursting through Light Armor. In edition about 15 of the Mars can launch a longer Range weapon the army tactical missile sys Tern which is capable of hitting targets Well beyond the ranges of Ordinary howitzers and rockets. The missiles travel about 60 Miles and carry about 1,000 bomb lets to detroy enemy missile Sites air defense systems and command complexes. A a the thing that is interesting Here is not innovation but the Extension of an old technique a said Don Kerr a defense analyst with the International Institute for strategic studies in London. A the idea of the Mars is not new. You can Trace it Back to China in the 10th Century if you want to take it that far.�?�. More recently in world War ii the soviet army pioneered the technique of saturation bombardment in its Campaign against nazi Germany along the Eastern front. The United states later adopted the method in a Day operations to soften up beachhead designated As Landing Sites for the Normandy invasion Kerr said. A the difference now is in what these rockets can do. They be got far greater reach now than eve before a he said a so when a Battery of these weapons lets go it is reaching Over the horizon to provide a lot of instant bad news Over quite a considerable area. And that a not just bad news for troops on the ground but for transport and Armor and artillery too awhile the Mars receives a lot of attention the More prevalent Allied artillery weapon on the Battlefield will be the old fashioned ml09 self propelled howitzer that was first fielded in the Early 1960s. Some artillery brigades Are also adding to their accuracy by using camera carrying drones that pinpoint targets. A you can identify an air defense system or other target Call in an artillery Battery without endangering your own forces Quot Hobbs said. Allied artillery forces also use radar which spot an incoming enemy artillery Shell in flight and then Trace its trajectory path Back to its origin for use in a counterattack. A the thing about artillery Over the last 100 years is that it has been a unscientific Means of waging War. But As reconnaissance has improved As intelligence has improved the ability to concentrate fire on particularly sensitive parts of the enemy a position has unproved a Kerr said. A a a Quot a a a a Iraq borrows heavily from soviet military doctrine which emphasizes focused and heavy still Ely strikes in its ground War strategy. And it is from artillery guns that Iraq would most Likely fire chemical weapons at advancing . And Allied ground forces. Over the last decade Iraq put together one of the worlds deadliest arsenals including chinese and brazilian rockets and French and soviet guns according to defense experts. But that variety also has drawbacks. A a you be got a number of different calipers circular Chassis and running gear r Bradley Fugh Flag vehicle Crew y. A a y a3 armament. 12 surface to surface rockets rocket guidance none length. Y. V. ,. 13 feet diameter a y a 9lndhee Range Vyvy 18.5 Miles source Jane s Armour and artillery is amps Susan hair ing in the same command so its very difficult to rationalize your ammunition Supply. You have to keep your ammunition near the guns which makes it More vulnerable a Foster said. Pertain iraqi guns have a greater Range than any of the artillery in the coalition Arsenal. For example its 155mm g5 gun howitzer produced by South Africa can fire a round about 24 Miles about six Miles farther Titan the average coalition  that Edge is largely nullified by iraqis Lack of reconnaissance analysts said. Finally while the majority of iraqi artillery must be towed by separate vehicles from site to site the . Army relies heavily of a strategy known As a shoot and scoot a by which its self propelled Art Heiy fires and then leaves the scene quickly to avoid a possible counterattack. A. A the fact that most of the Allied artillery is self propelled certainly gives it considerably More flexibility on the Battlefield a Foster said. Far off War has Blackhorse champing at bit ass John Millar soldiers of the 11th army Cav regt a i troop 3rd so stand inspection in bad Hersfeldt Germany. By John Millar Wurzburg Bureau by bad Hersfeldt Germany a after training for years to fight the worlds largest military soldiers of the 11th army Cav regt Are disappointed that they Are not getting a crack at the iraqi army. The 11th, known As the Blackhorse regiment has constantly trained to guard the Fulda Gap Long consid Rcd the Warsaw pacts Avenue of Choice into Western Europe during the cold War. But the hordes of soviet tanks they trained to fend off never came. The cold War ended without a Battle being fought. So Blackhorse soldiers feel somewhat miffed that they did no to get picked to face the same soviet built tanks of iraqis army. A was far As in a concerned and i can probably speak for the members of my platoon we re mostly disappointed in the fact that we re not going a said spec. Robert Winn a Bradley gunner in i troop 3rd so. The 11th is a  cavalry infantry Armor engineers and artillery. Its one of Only three of its kind in the Active army today. The other two a the 2nd army Cav regt which has its Headquarters in Nimberg Germany and the 3rd army Cav regt from a fort Bliss Texas a Are serving with front line forces in saudi Arabia. Only a handful of soldiers from the 11th. Have gone to the Gulf to fill positions in other units. A a it a hard to constantly train for the eventuality of War and once there is a War hot be Able to test your skills a said 1 troops 2nd it. William Caskey. A it May sound a Little warped but you want to go to War a the 25-year-old Abrams tank platoon Leader said. A a it a almost kind of a personal thing. How will i stand up in combat when real bullets Are singing past instead of laser beams that we shoot at each other during peacetime a another tank Plato Oft Leader 2nd it. Christopher Prigge said the nature of the Gulf War also provides another reason for their disappointment. A most of the military action the United states has taken on in the 1980s or late �?T70s were All Small limited things a Grenada Panama a a not the kind of thing where you re going to see m1a1 tanks or Bradley rolling around the Battlefield a he said. A now they re talking about three whole corps moving across a tremendous front in an area that so Ednd of built for armoured combat.�?�. Its not that soldiers of the 11th feel any animosity toward the two regiments in the Gulf said capt. Mark Littel 3rd so operations officer. Rather they just want a to fight alongside the 2nd and 3rd. A a it a like while our friends Are Down there getting ready to die we re up Here a Littel said. A a. We have our Mission we have our marching orders. These Guys have come to the realization that we might not  a the 2nd car in july did no to know they were going. Quot Lens Littel said. A they May Call us up in two Mont the Hiu Tsivina in Lilit Nemcic Ltd Biol Oil for Fhil and but they still train As though they might. _ Idns to the big saying in the corps is a dial 911 for the  they May dial 911, and Well get on a ship and go Down there.�?�. Littell a Squadron recently returned from gunnery qualifications at the Grafe Wohr combined arms training Center. When they got Back soldiers worked through the weekends to get vehicles serviced and ready a just in Case we re called to War a he said. Training to fight helps keep soldiers from agonizing Over whether they will go said sgt. 1st class Michael  this Squadron fills the duty Day with things to do a Wells said. A you keep a Soldier Busy. You keep his mind off of thinking too much of things. All you can do is keep him prepared for War and the Way you do that is to keep his mind occupied for As Many hours As you  there Are also those who done to want to go to the Gulf said staff sgt Steve Rochon a tank commander in the squadrons m troop. But they Tell him they will go if called upon and Hope that they go As a unit. A they say a we done to want to go Down there and be attached to somebody else a a Rochon said. A a we want to go with the company we want to go with the  6