Troops ‘not smart enough’

Press, 22 July 1986, Page 10

Troops ‘not smart enough’

NZPA-Reuter Washington

United States troops will not be smart enough to use high-technology weapons the Pentagon is developing for a new era of remote-controlled warfare, according to a report released yesterday. The report by a defence analyst, Martin Binkin, of the Brookings Institute, a private research group, said the pool of potential recruits able to maintain, repair and use such weapons was shrinking even as the need for them grew.

Pentagon planners are working on a range of weapons which would, in theory, turn much future

fighting over to computers and robot-guided weapons.

In the so-called “deep strike” system, airborne surveillance systems would locate columns of enemy tanks hundreds of miles behind the front lines and feed target data back to computers.

Guided rockets would then be fired, dropping precision-guided munitions which — led to their moving targets by the telltale heat of tank engines — would destroy enemy tank units before they could join the battle.

United States weapons systems from jets to tanks to anti-aircraft guns are

increasingly more sophisticated, complex, and computer-reliant, the report said. Mr Binkin said these weapons trends could be stopped by inadequate manpower and urged a shift to less complicated systems that were easier to maintain.

By the early 19905, the United States Armed Forces might be caught between a growing need for skilled people to use and maintain sophisticated weaponry and “a diminished supply of youthful recruits capable of absorbing complex training.”

The proportion of skilled technicians among

military personnel, 13 per cent in World War 11, was up to 30 per cent now. It would have to grow larger to keep pace with the growing complexity of weapons, the report said.

Even today, breakdowns of sophisticated gear were taxing the available manpower, it said.

Weapons systems such as the advanced F-16 and F-18 jet fighters were built with “diagnostic” equipment to help technicians uncover breakdowns and potential malfunctions. But the diagnostic equipment was complex and tended to break down or malfunction.