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The employment of air
support in an urban environment was a new requirement which
surfaced during OIF. Successful and effective Close Air Support (CAS) over and in
urban area requires direct coordination between air and ground
forces, sharing a constantly updated situational picture,
efficient target acquisition, designation and handoff techniques
and the use of very accurate weapons. As proven during OIF and to
a limited extent, during the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US, British and Israeli air forces realized that the use of
conventional high explosive weapons with large explosive yield is
often impossible, due to the risk to friendly forces and
collateral damage. When smaller warheads were used, they did not
create the desired effect and usually did not accomplish the
mission. The lack of such precision-guided weapons prevented the
US Forces and RAF from providing full support to land forces in
urban areas. According to the UK MOD, although RAF aircraft
delivered inert 1000lb bombs to minimize collateral damage, these
often did not create the desired effect. Air forces are seeking
new, specialized smaller weapons, equipped with delay fuses, which
are designed to penetrate buildings and bunkers, and localize the
effect inside the specific target, while avoiding risk to friendly
forces or collateral damage.
 Engagement of mobile
targets is another issue preventing the use of precision
weapons in effective close air support. The majority of land
forces plot target positions on maps, rather than using Global
Positioning Systems (GPS) satellite equipment. Furthermore, due to
the delay in transferring target positions from a ground unit to
the airborne platform launching
Precision Guided Munitions
(PGM), GPS coordinates of mobile targets outdate before the weapon
can reach the target. Therefore, efficient targeting loop
(sensor-to-shooter) which includes effective
battle-damage assessment (BDA) and laser designation
for
semi-active laser
guided weapons are the preferred means of engagements in CAS
environment, as the weapon is homing on the laser spot marked by
the ground unit. A different target verification and "man in the
loop" control can also be utilized with electro-optically guided
weapons, such as Spike
LR/ER fiber-optical guided missile which provides a clear view
of the target and aimpoint until the second of impact therefore
enabling effective control of the weapon in all conditions. When
GPS guidance is
required, due to weather conditions and availability, pilots must
reconfirm mobile targets by sight before committing to an attack,
and are assisted by targeting pods which provide the necessary
geotargeting support. Pods such as such as Lantirn,
Litening,
Pantera or TILAD are
providing these features. Under such circumstances, the situational
picture as it is viewed from the air may differ from its ground
view, resulting in a greater risk of fratricide is growing. In
order to share a common view of the target, pictures generated by
the targeting pod can be sent to the supported ground units for
final target verification. Targeting pods are not yet equipped
with such data-links, but current aerial communications networks
do support fast data transfers. With expansion of their
bandwidth, ground communications nodes could be integrated to
support shared views of sensor data.
 Laser guided weapons
can also be used effectively in urban terrain, however, due to
many "dead angles" which may limit line of sight, Ground
designation will be effective for vertical targets (doors and
windows in buildings), while UAVs or other aerial platforms can
take advantage from unobstructed view of the scene. UAVs and
airborne designators become very efficient when engaging moving
cars, which can be hidden from ground observers behind other
vehicles, buildings or trees. Airborne designators can also
designate combatants hidden behind walled patios or in orchards,
etc. However, due to their high aspect angle, they can be limited
in the targeting of vertical surfaces, such as windows or doors
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