posted on May, 10 2005 @ 02:39 PM
www.washtimes.com...
the wars help America able to learn from the mistakes and the use of tactics by the enemies.
For the next 40 years the Air Force and Navy spent literally trillions of dollars transforming how they fought in the air. They formed fighter schools
such as Top Gun for the Navy and Red Flag for the Air Force to relearn the art of aerial combat. The services developed families of new fighters such
as the F-15 and F-16 flown by the American and Israeli air forces and the Navy's F-14 and F-18. The investment has paid off. Since Vietnam, Americans
and Israelis flying American aircraft have achieved kill ratios of several hundred to one. No one can challenge us in air-to-air combat today.
On the ground, the news on kill ratios hasn't been very good. The numbers are inexact, but recent experience suggests that Army and Marine ratios
are at about six to one when engaging an enemy with help from artillery and air power. They compress to about parity when the enemy is able to draw
our soldiers into the close fight in places like Fallujah.
So, what are we doing to gain dominance on the ground? There is some good news. One lesson relearned from Korea and Vietnam is that soldiers stand
a far greater chance of surviving the close fight when mounted in armored vehicles. Both the Army and Marines have begun ambitious programs to develop
a series of armored fighting vehicles such as the Future Combat System that will provide a decisive close- combat advantage. But recent experience in
Iraq and Afghanistan tells us that actions by the enemy compel our soldiers to leave their vehicles to fight on foot.
To increase the ratios in the dismounted fight, the Army and Marines have invested some money lately into purchasing body armor, new night-vision
devices and off-the-shelf commercial radios. All of these improvements cost less than two B-2 bombers. To be sure, these efforts have (quite
literally) stopped the bleeding for now. But, what about tomorrow? What are we doing to ensure that the ratios move more in our favor in future
battles?
[edit on 10-5-2005 by deltaboy]
u can read the rest.
[edit on 10-5-2005 by deltaboy]