The Strategist

A pest control strategy for dealing with al-Qaida

Eight years after 9/11, al-Qaida is on the run. This according to Jason Burke, who writes that affiliated groups in Algeria and Mauritania are strong, but "al-Qaida central", situated in Pakistan's tribal agencies, is in disarray. Why? Partly because of deadly UAV drone strikes against middle and top leaders…

"The European volunteers speak of the almost neurotic concern about invisible 'chips' supposedly planted by spies to guide in missile attacks. Fear of interception meant no use of mobile phones, only radio and notes carried by hand…"

Burke concludes this insightful article by saying that for terrorists, "simply surviving represents a victory". Well, that may be so, but it's a pretty poor sort of victory if you're hiding out in isolated huts, constantly scurrying from one hiding place to another, always fearing that each minute may be your last, and unable to advance your aims because you can't communicate effectively with the outside world.

This suggests that while the west may never eradicate terrorist groups like al-Qaida, skillful use of advanced technology and highly trained specialists can keep a group's leadership pinned down, significantly disrupt its organization, and curtail its ability to inspire and direct.

You couldn't call this a decisive victory, but it may represent a state of affairs - a stalemate, better yet a situation where you have the upper hand - that the west could live with. The analogy is with pest control. You'll never stop mice from raiding your house, but with sustained pressure and appropriate countermeasures - a hungry cat, cunningly placed traps - you can contain the problem.

Photo: lafrancevi - Heron UAV, Kandahar airfield.

Sight-seeing in North Korea: Taechon revolutionary airbase

There are many stirring sights to see in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Here is a photo of the Taechon Revolutionary Airbase. The photo was taken during winter.

You can see advanced fighter aircraft taxing out of their blast shelters. It is pleasing to see that in the stormy blast of winter the patriotic pilots are alert to the aerial aggression of the US imperialists and their bellicose south Korean puppets.

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Sights to see in North Korea: an underground airfield

There's many interesting sights to see in North Korea. Here's a satellite image of an underground runway being built to the southwest of Wonsan military airbase in North Korea. The runway runs from one o'clock to seven o'clock in the centre of the image, tunnelling beneath a high ridge, with braided rivers to the northwest and south. Use the "+" and "-" symbols to zoom in and out.

A similar facility is being constructed on the west coast of North Korea, 4km east of Onchon airbase.

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Pakistan army operations in the Swat Valley

Two videos below give some idea of the fighting between the Pakistan army and the Taliban in the strategic Swat Valley, North-West Frontier Province.

The first video (via Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz) shows an airbourne assault, with images of gunships attacking buildings and infantrymen yelling battle cries as they land by helicopter on a hill-top.

In the second video (below the break), Al Jazeera correspondent Imran Khan talks with residents on the outskirts of Mingora whose houses have been wrecked in the fighting. The army has  surrounded the town, which the Taliban are said to have fortified.

US Air Force scores own goal (again)

Here's what US Army Field Manuel No. 3-14 Counterinsurgency says about the use of air strikes:

"E-5.  An air strike can cause collateral damage that turns people against the host-nation government and provides insurgents with a major propaganda victory.

Even when justified under the law of war, bombings that result in civilian casualties can bring media coverage that works to the insurgents’ benefit."

Looks like someone forgot to send a copy to the US Air Force ... "US air strikes kill dozens of Afghan civilians".

Smitten Eagle on "How not to win a war"

In my last "Raiders of the Lost Archives" post, I discussed coalition air strikes in counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan.

Smitten Eagle, who served with the US Marines in Afghanistan, had this to say in response:

"I think the use of air strikes and arty [artillery] is more of a function of techno-fetishism. Each year PGMs [precision-guided munitions], guidance technology, and effects-prediction models seem to improve, giving false hope to the futile idea that a pilot has better situational awareness than people on the ground.

We would be better served if we had less faith in the power of technology, especially with regard to the forms of People's War..."

A Unique Record of War

If, like me, you're interested in the history of the Second World War and aerial photography, this BBC audio slideshow is a must see. A military historian and a retired RAF officer analyse stunning images from Britain's Aerial Reconnaissance Archives. These archives contain 10 million military photographs, mostly taken by reconnaissance aircraft - a unique record of war.

For me, the D Day aerial photographs - of the American first wave going into Omaha beach, the British gliders at Pegasus Bridge (a vital crossing of the Caen Canal), and the artificial Mulberry harbour - illuminate, in a new and unusual way, a pivotal action of the Second World War.

Tom and Zen on "Airships and Other Worlds"

OK, so airships might not have a great future when it comes to replacing jet airliners, but they could be useful in other ways. Commenting on "Airships and Other Worlds", Tom S wrote:

"they may have a role as anti-submarine platforms three times faster than the fastest submarine, with an unrefuelled sortie time that can be measured in days or even weeks rather than hours, the ability to linger at low altitude and they would be able to absorb hits from submarine-launched SAMs without suffering fatal damage."

Then there's heavy lift. Zenpundit commented: "Where airships are cost effective would be logistical supply - their lift capacity is absolutely enormous relative to fuel costs".

Interestingly, British firm World SkyCat Ltd are designing a range of airships which can be used for functions like heavy lift, surveillance and patrol, luxury tourism, and short-haul mass passenger transport. The first SkyCat airship is scheduled to be built by the end of 2008. The company claims that SkyCat-20 will be able to carry out long range patrols "typically, 7 days on station on a 4,000 mile patrol mission" and is "virtually impervious to automatic rifle and mortar fire".

New Zealand's maritime forces could use this sort of airship to carry out oceanic and coastal patrols, for anything from anti-submarine warfare and fisheries protection to border security and search and rescue.  

MiG-29 vs UAV

First I brought you this video of Dutch Apache attack helicopters in Afghanistan.

Now, here's footage of a Russian MiG-29 fighter shooting down an "unarmed, unmanned [Georgian] aerial vehicle...performing basic reconnaissance over Georgian territory".

Via The Interpreter.

Apaches in Afghanistan

This video shows a Dutch Apache gunship attacking Taliban insurgents by night in southern Afghanistan (h/t The Interpreter). The Dutch pilots work calmly and closely with US infantry, switching effortlessly between Dutch and English.

Air power has come a long way since the days of 'Bomber' Harris and the thousand bomber raids over Europe during World War Two.

"Dreamers of the Day": John Boyd

Colonel John Boyd said that in life we have a basic choice: to do or to be. Boyd was a distinguished American fighter pilot, air combat theorist, and military thinker. Now, Chicago Boyz is hosting a roundtable discussion on Frans Osinga's Science, Strategy and War (2007), an examination of Boyd's strategic thinking.

Introducing the roundtable, Zenpundit writes:

Does the Raptor Provide Real Security?

This is the F-22 Raptor, the US's latest stealth aircraft. The Raptor is an air superiority fighter - in a battle zone its mission is to take out enemy fighter aircraft and surface-to-air missiles, making it safe for other US aircraft to operate. The US Air Force describes it as a critical element of its global strike force and claims that "it cannot be matched by any known or projected fighter aircraft". It cost the American taxpayer US $62 billion.

But does the Raptor provides the US with real security? Jeff thinks it does. I disagree - here's why.

How Not to Win a War

"Aaarrgghh!!!". That's what I thought when I read this Afghanistan report by Jason Burke.

"In the latest of a series of attacks causing significant civilian casualties in recent weeks, more than 200 [civilians] were killed by coalition troops in Afghanistan in June, far more than are believed to have been killed by Taliban militants."

In a counterinsurgency the basic idea is to win civilians to your side, not drive them into the enemy's camp by killing their family and friends with air strikes and artillery fire. Why is it that some soldiers find this hard to grasp?

"The path of duty"

Max Lambert has written a fine article about New Zealander Lloyd Trigg VC, DFC. Flying Officer Trigg and his Liberator aircraft crew lost their lives while destroying a German U-boat during the Battle for the Atlantic in August 1943. Trigg was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The citation described the fierce action as an "epic of grim determination and high courage. His was the path of duty that leads to glory".

Max Lambert earlier wrote Night after Night (2005), a book about New Zealanders who flew with RAF Bomber Command in World War Two. Although the book lacks structure and fails to place in context the service of New Zealand airmen, it gives great insight into the experiences of the New Zealanders (and their British, Canadian, Australian and South African comrades) who took part in the great air battles over Europe. It helped me visualize the experience of one of my great uncles, Roy, who flew as a wireless operator/air gunner in a Stirling heavy bomber of No. 149 Squadron.

The Stirling bomber was something of a death trap: it had four engines, could carry a big bomb load, and was quite manoeuvrable, but had a low operating altitude and was often targeted by German night fighter aircraft. In July 1943, during a sortie to Cologne, Roy's plane was attacked by night fighters. He bailed out of the flaming plane, and landed in a field in Holland, badly burned and with a sprained ankle. The plane crashed some distance away; Roy was the only survivor of the seven man crew.

Hearing people approaching, and fearing that they were Germans, Roy tried to hobble away but was overtaken by a man who proved to be friendly. He was smuggled through Holland and France to Spain via the 'underground railway', and returned to England three months after the fatal mission.

Roy was later posted to Canada. In March 1944, during a routine patrol over the Pacific, his plane went missing. Like most airmen who went to a watery grave, Roy's body and those of his comrades, were never found. He left behind his Canadian wife and a young daughter.