Hi-tech weapons to the fore

THE US-led attack on Iraq has been dubbed the first digital war.

The Digital Division's weapons are so modern that they were only fully tested in a combat exercise within the last two years, and signed-off just 16 months ago.

One of the new systems, the digital command and control system awkwardly known in military jargon as FBCB2 is an integral feature of the Ivy Division's M1A2 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Apache Longbow attack helicopters.

FBCB2 is a tactical internet system which works in the same way as the worldwide web to integrate all the weapons systems into one great database, giving combatants the ability to see the entire battleground on a computer screen.

"It allows a soldier to know where he is, where his buddy is, and know where the enemy is," said Leonardo Rodriguez, an Abrams tank driver.

"In the past, we had a lot of 'friendly fire' accidents because we weren't always in sync with each other. We didn't always know where everyone else was, and sometimes mistook one another for the enemy.

"But with this system, everyone is on the same page. The FBCB2 lets everyone communicate and know who's who."

It is this battlefield awareness that is arguably the most significant change since the 1991 Gulf War.

That conflict saw one in four US fatalities and most British casualties caused by friendly fire. FBCB2 should make such accidental attacks virtually impossible.

Another advantage of FBCB2 is a large increase of the "battlefield box" that a commander can control.