Before the Iraq War, there was speculation whether the war would last a few days or a few months? In fact, much of the assessment of the consequences of the war were based on the likely duration of the war. Initially it appeared that the US forces might face stiff resistance. And the real fight was expected in Baghdad. But Iraqi defences seem to have collapsed suddenly without much fighting. Why the sudden collapse?The uncertainties of any war had shaped most of the assessments, although it was clear from the very beginning that the US would win the war and Saddam Hussein’s forces would be defeated. The Iraqis did fight stubbornly. Their unanticipated tactics of using irregular forces did create some difficult situations for the Anglo-American forces. You would recall that even senior US Generals had remarked during the first week of the war that the type of tactics they were facing was not something that they had prepared themselves for in war-gaming and training. But that was as much due to the factor of surprise as the reality that America’s unchallenged superiority in military technology and firepower could be partly offset by guerrilla tactics. But wherever Iraqis tried to fight in organised forces and tactics, they lost quickly. This was basically due to the American superiority in total command of the air above, extensive surveillance and target-locating technologies and systems, and highly accurate lethal weapon systems. Anything that moved could be spotted, and everything that could be spotted could be targeted, and everything that could be targeted was destroyed. Media reports are emerging to indicate that the elite Republican Guards Divisions did not fight in defence of Baghdad (except for the odd unit) because of covert surrender by the commanders. This has some credence since the US strategy included negotiating surrender of the commanders of such forces, and this was known before the war started. But this should not in any way detract from the fact that the American forces fought with great skill and courage, and their commanders were able to quickly alter their plans to meet the changed battle situation at every step. India launched its first indigenously-built ‘‘stealth’’ warship for the Navy last week.The first indigenously designed and constructed warship with ‘‘stealth’’ features, the 4,900-ton frigate christened INS Shivalik was launched on April 19. This is the first of the three such frigates with tremendous firepower to be built at the Mazagon Docks, Mumbai. This is indeed a creditable performance by Indian Navy’s warship design organisation and the dockyard that built the ship. At the same time, credit must also go to other partners in this venture like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (who supplied the LM 2500 gas turbine engines for the warship), Bharat Electronics (who supplied the radar, communications, fire control and electronic warfare systems), Kirloskars and numerous other agencies and units in the private and public sector in the country. Stealth technology basically implies incorporating features that would reduce the ability of the hostile military forces to locate the platform. Normally military platforms (like ships and aircraft) can be located by radar miles before they come into visual contact. Similarly they are also located by infrared sensors since they all emit some level of heat or have a higher temperature (due to friction etc.) compared to their environment. They can also be located from the sound of the platform produced by its movement (especially in poor visibility and night conditions). Stealth technology seeks to reduce the radar ‘‘signatures’’ by various methods to reduce the strength of the reflected signal thus reducing the range at which the platform would be detected. Similarly, infrared and noise signals are also sought to be muffled by relocating and shielding the sources of heat generation. Such technologies are essentially built into the system at the design stage and can be later improved upon in existing systems only marginally. A warship like the newly launched frigate, therefore, can remain undetected while closing in to the target as compared to a normal warship. This provides a tremendous advantage in war.
