"Attaining 100 victories in 100 battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the enemy’s army without fighting is the true pinnacle of excellence..."
Sun Tzu, in Art of War

Cynics have dubbed Tzu’s remark as an ideal that cannot be realized. Not anymore. Sample this for a moment—In the ongoing battle in Iraq, the United States is using a new type of revolutionary bomb called electromagnetic E-Bomb aimed at destroying the communication links between Saddam Hussein and his troops in Iraq. Military experts claim that an E-Bomb will literally wipe out all communication links and will isolate Hussein from his troops without any bloodshed.  Warfare today has attained a new status with innovative technologies actually executing complicated combat missions. As a military expert said: "The Iraq war runs on IT, it is less and less about pushing men and machines around the battle field and more and more about pushing electrons and photons". IT and other technologies have been put to use in the wars of yesteryears in differing measures, but at no point has it been adopted with such frenzy as in Gulf War II. To many the things deployed might not sound like a pure IT application or a gadget. But what IT does is, it enables the core weapon systems to operate in precision and enhances the safety of the user by allowing remote management capabilities. And here we unravel a few of them.

RATLER the Robot
Developed by US based Sandia National Laboratories for NASA’s lunar explorations originally, RATLER is now an indispensable companion to the soldiers on the battlefield. If the US forces have to enter a building, but are unable to determine whether it is an enemy command or a residence, the friendly robot comes into play. RATLERs are small robots that swarm like ants and knock down everyone inside a room. The uniqueness of this device is it does not kill anyone but creates awe and shock. However many claim that this device is not yet ready for actual field missions. Some defense experts claim that these are being experimented in Iraq.

PDAs on Steroids
Those ubiquitous small devices are not only for tech-savvy executives. Now, US troops are using PDAs armed with GPS an all-terrain military modem, and a laser range finder. The ground forces have christened them "PDAs on steroids". The PDAs are developed by Tallahassee Technologies, weigh seven pounds and are powered by a 500 Mhz Intel Pentium III processor with a 4GB hard drive. It also sports a 6.4-inch touch screen with a foldout keyboard and a ten-hour battery life. The whole thing runs on Windows 95 or NT.

Digitalized-armored Vehicles
While the battle tanks used by the US forces might look ordinary, they have undergone a sea change inside their hoods. For instance the Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are equipped with computerized mapping systems. This enables the crew to ascertain their location on the battlefield in a precise manner. Also, in total concealment they can see the terrain and effectively execute firing sessions.

E-bombs
E-bombs are capable of destroying the electronic equipment with a huge burst of electrical energy released into the atmosphere. The bombs delivered through cruise missiles, fire watts of energy in the form of microwaves. The purpose is to destroy the enemy’s computers, communication devices, and telephones. In fact the E-Bomb destroys any device that uses transistors. In the ground the impact will be similar to a lighting bolt and the radius can be determined as per the target size. Many believe that US is using E-Bombs to wipe out Iraq’s underground communication command centers.

Jamming
The advent of E-Bombs will allow the US forces to poach into the enemy’s lines of communication. The E-Bombs jam the military communication networks thereby forcing Iraqi forces to rely on unsecured phone lines for communication. Hence it will become easier for US troops to keep a close watch on the commands going through that line.

Friend/Foe Identifier
The last two weeks have been very tough for the coalition forces in Iraq. They are facing extreme weather conditions and sand storms that minimize their visibility. Given that, the likelihood of coalition forces exchanging fire between themselves on mistaken identity is higher. To avoid that, a US based company Sierra Monolithics has developed a transponder. This state-of-the-art device will empower the soldiers on the ground to ascertain whether the soldier in front is an enemy or a foe. Some reports suggest that this technology is currently being used by the US troops in Northern Iraq.

Sensor-fused Weapons
Straight out of the research lab, this revolutionary weapon uses laser seekers to pinpoint tankers on the ground. These bombs are ejected from high altitudes and they slowly cruise down using parachutes and blow up vehicles on the ground. Here the ground control uses satellite imagery and fuse it with GIS applications to map the tanker movements before sending in sorties. Cutting edge systems and complex software is involved in this mapping.

These are some of the technologies being tested in the ongoing Iraq war. However many military experts believe that the US has more revolutionary class weapons that might see the light of the day, with Iraq becoming an ideal testing ground. The success of these weapons—high-powered microwave weapons, low impact bombs, and digital navigators are yet to be measured. Notwithstanding the outcome, the induction of new technologies opens up a new premise in modern warfare.

Shrikanth G

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