From: billb@owlnet.rice.edu (William Stenson Blackwell)
Subject: Re: Bush's position on Bosnia 
Organization: Rice University
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 02:35:31 GMT

In article <1992Aug15.084615.15461@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>, buckley@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (BUCKLEY  CHARLES RAY) writes:
|> Yes but the terrain also,limits the types of weapons that could be used.
|> To get at the convoys, the attackers would have to get into the same valley
|> with the convoy to have any chance at getting the vehicles. The attackers
|> would then have to bug out over the mountain, which is not good when your
|> opponent is airmobile. 

Woah...sounds like someone needs to go to refresher course in modern history,
specifically AFGHANISTAN.  The Afghans were quite able to disrupt Soviet 
supply convoys.  All that it takes is a couple of guys sitting just over
the hill with a mortar that's been pre-sighted because "there are just so many
roads that a 100 truck convoy can take."  Get the lead and trailing elements,
and you've got yourself one sweet kill-zone.  Have your buddies come over the 
hill with RPGs and Recoilless Rifles.  Blammo, no more convoy.  Then, hightail
it back over the mountain where your rear-echelon waits with SAMs.  If those
selfsame airmobile troops are flying at altitude, then guess what? They aren't
troops anymore, they're skeet. However, if you fly noe, then you have two 
major problems: 1) groundfire 2) SAMs.  If you try to defeat the SAMs by 
flying noe, then you risk serious groundfire.  Those RRs and RPGs get real
nasty when they have a stationary target, and the  helo's will have to be 
stationary at some point, usually when you are off-loading your skeet.  Sorry,
troops.  If you use fast-roping, then your chopper is at-risk.  If you don't, it still becomes at risk.  You know that the hillsides are the enemies', so
what does that leave you...dead.  The only counter to this is the Hind.  The
thing is a flying tank that just happens to be able to carry 8 troops.  (Yeah,
yeah, it's just a fire team, but...)  The reason being is that it can stand
up to anything up to 12.7mm fire (i.e. 51 cal), clear a hot LZ, and then 
provide supporting fire for its troops as they disembark.  The UH-60 can't
do this.  Our helos are "stand-off" weapons platforms.  They've pretty much
lost their CAS role (s* got too sophisticated).  Sure, they still have zuni's,
but how much good is it going to do them against a Stinger...  As to the new
prob with SAMs, it relates to how the terrain is stacked against you.  When you
fly over our theoretical mountain, you then expose your exhaust to a squad 
equipped with SAMs who've been playing fox, and hiding in spider holes on the`
mountain.  So while you've been concentrating on the group that's fleeing 
(assuming that you can still find them), you've also been increasing your 
range from the squad hiding on the hill.  Once you get clear of the arming
perimeter...Bingo, you're hosed.  This is all making a BIG assumption that you
can actually find them.  Remember: the Balkans aren't quite as arid as 
Afghanistan.

|> The longer range weapons are not as numerous and
|> the number will be decreased rapidly should adequate air support be availible.

True...on your men.  See above.

|> The idea is to keep the supply lines open. This would be best served by destroying the means cutting the supply line as well as killing anyone with the guts to
|> attack the lines. Let the enemy come you. You'll have a higher initial loss but
|> will inflict greater losses on the attackers. Besides, booby traps were one
|> of the major (if not the major) cause of injury in Viet Nam. By giving the
|> engineers a specific area to clear and the enemy a specific area that must
|> attacked, this particular type of attack can be greatly reduced.

Reread that part about pre-sighting a mortar.  If yoo're talking about
engineer battalions, then you're talking about large-scale involvement.
This is not desired.  The best way is still with airstrikes.  The SAM threat
is negligible, then.  Shoulder-fireds have a ceiling of c.17,000', and the 
emplacements are toast to a well orchestrated Wild Weasel attack.

PS: don't re-post someone else's .sig, it wastes bandwidth.  They get proper
credit, but they aren't sending it.  I defy flames, but sound military 
arguments are always welcome.

-- 
Bill Blackwell             P H P <==me!   "A just request is to be met
billb@owlnet.rice.edu     F L L F       in silence, by the act."
Houston, Texas, USA          8       -Dante Alighieri "Inferno" XXIV ln.77-78
"My opinions are mine, no one else is that stupid"