Problems Cited With Air Weapons Used in Gulf War

The high-priced air combat weapons showcased in the Persian Gulf War faced far more problems than acknowledged at the time and were not necessarily better than cheaper alternatives, a new report concludes.

The report on air war weapons in Operation Desert Storm by the General Accounting Office is to be released Thursday. A declassified summary was obtained Monday by the Associated Press.

“It is inappropriate, given aircraft use, performance and effectiveness demonstrated in Desert Storm, to characterize the higher cost aircraft as generally more capable than lower cost aircraft,” the GAO concluded. “In some cases, the higher cost systems had the greater operating limitations; in some other cases, the lower cost aircraft had the same general limitations but performed at least as well.”

The report, requested by Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.) and Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), states that because of imperfect bomb-damage assessments, it is impossible to say whether the high cost of the precision-guided weapons yielded commensurate results. Based in part on interviews with more than 100 Gulf War pilots, the report also concludes that mid- to high-altitude bombing tactics employed to avoid shoot-downs resulted in inaccurate strikes, even with precision weapons.

And in a recommendation that differs sharply from current Pentagon policy, the GAO--the investigatory arm of Congress--questions the increased reliance on precision-guided munitions, particularly in wars in which the United States dominates the skies, as it did in 1990 and 1991 in the Persian Gulf.

“A reevaluation is warranted, based on Desert Storm experiences that demonstrated limitations in the effectiveness of guided munitions, survivability concerns for aircraft delivering these munitions, and circumstances where less complex, less constrained unguided munitions proved equally or more effective,” the GAO said.

The Pentagon, in a reply to the GAO, agreed with some of the agency’s conclusions about the limitations of sophisticated aircraft and precision munitions. But the Pentagon’s written reply stated that new precision weapons programs now under development, including global-positioning guidance systems, will work well in all weather and will overcome many of the other weaknesses that arose during the Gulf War.