ARTILLERY: Rules of Engagement Protect Iraqi Mortars

StrategyPage.com ^ | November 26, 2003

[Cannoneer No. 4]

November 26, 2003: The armed opposition in Iraq are taking advantage of speed and rules of engagement to defeat America's high tech weapons. Several teams of Iraqis are moving around near coalition bases at night and firing a few mortar shells, then slinking away and hiding their mortar and ammunition. The weapon used is usually a Russian made 82mm mortar. This weapon weighs about 80 pounds, but can be broken down into three pieces (the heaviest weighing 29 pounds, the lightest 22). Each 82mm mortar shell weighs about seven pounds (and contains about 14 ounces of explosives). The mortar has a maximum range of about 8,000 meters. The U.S. has a Firefinder radar which, when it spots an incoming shell, calculates where it came from and transmits the location to a nearby artillery unit, which then fires on where the mortar is (or was). This process takes 3-4 minutes (or less, for experienced troops.) But there are rules of engagement to deal with. You cannot fire your artillery into a populated area. And this is where the Iraqis usually fire their mortar from; some civilians back yard. As a result, Firefinder knows where the Iraqi mortar is, but the American artillery can't fire because of the nearby civilians. However, the location of the mortar is also sent to a nearby infantry unit, which now has troops standing by to rush to the location. But the Iraqis know how this works (some got caught and the word got around.) So the Iraqi teams fire a few shells, then take their mortar apart and move away. This process takes a minute or so. Some Iraqi gunners have fired from uninhabited areas (sometimes because there were no civilian neighborhoods within range) and got blasted. But the Iraqis eventually realized that their best bet was to fire from a civilian area and then run. Fortunately, the Iraqi mortarmen have not been very skillful, and often miss large targets (covering several acres). This cat and mouse game continues, apparently with UAVs and gunships getting involved as well. So while the Iraqi "shoot and run" tactics have been fairly successful, there is still a risk, and a growing one at that, for the midnight mortar operators.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Whose learning curve is faster?

Spectre could break Iraqi mortarmen of bad habits.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Incoming

[Cannoneer No. 4]

High Angle Hell Ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[optimistically_conservative]

The only missing aspect to this is the ineffectiveness of their tactics for putting steel on target. Firing one or two mortars from a hasty position, sight guessing the aim of the first round and with a planned withdrawal within minutes of the first shell fired practically guarantees missing the target.

Any effort to improve their chances of hitting their target makes them vulnerable to being caught.

The conclusion then is that they are satisfied with the media attention they get by just dropping a few close to their target and playing the stats that once in a great while they might get lucky.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[Cannoneer No. 4]

ping

[NMFXSTC]

And the solution is simple...you allow a tube to be set up in your back yard...we level your backyard...next landlord to offer space available for a mortar? Step right up!

Oh, to see that C-47 gunship back and blast again! Provides a very nice lesson in payback!

[Cannoneer No. 4]

It's a lot like shooting a hotel with an RPG. Makes noise, busts glass, scares journos, gets coverage, adds to the anxiety level of folks in the States who think it is worse than it is. 4GW. They aren't all that good at killing us, but they are real good at making us feel bad about what few successes they have.

Even a blind hog finds an acorn every once in a while. Too many Americans are too quick to blame the leadership when we take casualties. I think the enemy has something to do with it.

[Ranger]

To complete the scenario, the bad guys set up an ambush along the known routes to that site. Coalition troops race to the site hoping to catch a perp but run into an ambush instead. This scenario plays itself out daily in Iraq and was also used heavily in Lebannon a few years ago.

[Tom Bombadil]

Sounds to me like they limit what they do or they die... Doesn't sound like they are becoming more effective, just adaptive.

So in this war of attrition, my guess is that they are losing.

We are not hearing the whole story right now, and surprisingly, the part we may not be hearing is how quickly the other side is being attrited.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

Don't return fire, follow them home and then take out the whole nest using whatever is 10 times larger than needed.

[fourdeuce82d]

Firing one or two mortars from a hasty position, sight guessing the aim of the first round and with a planned withdrawal within minutes of the first shell fired practically guarantees missing the target.

Kinda sorta. It depends on whether or not the have a skilled FDC (fire direction controller) type, accurate maps, etc.

Shooting by eyeball, they'd be lucky to hit a football stadium sized target. using a map, sight, aiming stakes (or the equivalent) they should be able to shrink that considerably

Let's ask neverdem, a weasely little FDCer if there ever was one...*grin*

(fancy pants FDC types with their Gamma Goats and dry working conditions grumle grumble)

[Ispy4u]

Title is misleading. It should read Rules of Engagement protect innocent civilians.

I don't know if you've ever seen the results of an artillery strike, even a small one with 60mm mortars, but I'm here to tell you even if our targeting was 100% accurate dropping shells in a populated area would be devastating.

[OldEagle]

Sounds kinda like the VC.

[Ispy4u]

OTOH if the civilians in the area are smart they will hightail it out of the area when the guerillas start firing.

But the title is still slanted against the ROE, the only option to having no rules hinder our troops is to have no rules at all.

[Yo-Yo]

And the solution is simple...you allow a tube to be set up in your back yard...we level your backyard...next landlord to offer space available for a mortar? Step right up!

First of all, many times the Iraqi homeowner has no say in the matter. Someone sets up in their back yard at 0200 and he's asleep. Second, this is the tactic that the Israelis have taken with Palestinian Homocide Bombers - they bulldoze the bombers' family home. Not great for P.R.

The solution is to try to get the co-operation of the Iraqi people to report these things, and to hunt down the scum ringleaders.

As satisfying as it sounds, cratering back yards of possibly innocent civilians is not the answer, and would only fuel anti-American sentiment among the population. Let's not allow emotion cloud our judgement.

[Hoosier-Daddy]

We need snipers scattered around the area surrounding the base. They won't get them every time, but when they do, any survivors will tell their friends, and they may think twice about firing mortar rounds at our bases.

[JoeGar]

You cannot fire your artillery into a populated area. And this is where the Iraqis usually fire their mortar from ...

This sounds a lot like North Vietnam. We were not allowed to bomb populated areas ... so where do you think the anti-aircraft guns were placed?