Word: lasered
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...judge by the cost overruns and testing mishaps, the U.S. arsenal seemed to consist of planes that spun out of control, tanks too cumbersome to maneuver and spare parts with Tiffany price tags. What a difference a war makes. Now that U.S. Patriots are chasing down Scuds and laser-guided bombs are nailing targets in Iraq, the once derided weaponry has become the star of the war. Suddenly, everybody is a weapons buff...
...larger question, of course, is the adequacy -- moral, material and martial -- of America. A month ago, conventional wisdom had the U.S. being overtaken as a great power by Japan. Perhaps. But is making a superior Walkman a better index of technological sophistication than making laser bombs that enter hangars through the front door? Is a nation's ability to make VCRs a better index of power than the ability to defeat aggression...
Previous generations of pilots had spoken of a "bomber's moon." But that was in an era of what would now be considered low-tech conflict. Today the ideal condition for an air raid is a pitch-black night. Infrared devices and laser- guided bombs enable pilots to see and hit their targets through inky darkness; moonlight would serve only to make their planes more visible to antiaircraft gunners. Jan. 15 was the first of three moonless nights in Iraq and Kuwait. No good; the U.S. considered the deadline for using force to be midnight American Eastern Standard Time...
...pinpoint accuracy of the attacks was spectacular. At a Friday briefing in Saudi Arabia, Air Force Lieut. General Charles Horner showed videotapes of two laser-guided bombs sailing through the open doors of a bunker in which an Iraqi Scud missile was stored, and a third plopping down the rooftop air shaft of a tall building in Baghdad -- apparently the headquarters of the Iraqi air force -- and then blowing off the top floors. Bombs and missiles also hit other targets around and even in the heart of Baghdad -- Saddam's presidential palace, for one -- while apparently doing little damage...
Weapons. Close to 1,000 M1A1 tanks are now in Saudi Arabia, and with their laser range finders, infrared sensors and digital computerized firing systems, they should be able to outrun and outgun the best Iraqi tanks, Soviet-made T- 72s. Infantry will navigate with the Global Positioning Satellite system, a book-size receiver that allows them to determine their location within a couple of yards. The big surprise if war broke out could be American Apache and Cobra helicopters. Despite a reputation for maintenance problems, the Apaches in Saudi Arabia have been ready for duty more than...