Monday, August 21, 2006
Thoughts on the War In Lebanon
Obviously a ceasefire is now in place, and given that we have arrived at this point, it must be hoped that it will prove effective. Personally I'm sceptical, but we'll just wait and see.
Of course in many ways, the actuality of a ceasefire is a victory (of sorts) for Hezbollah, that being said it has also been convenient for Israel. As this conflict had progressed, it seemed to me that Israel was ill equipped to fight the specific threat Hezbollah posed, they seemed to have plenty of tanks and jet fighter/bombers, but Hebollah had clearly prepared for these with anti-tank munitions and built in concrete defences. Nevertheless, they have I think inflicted some severe damage on Hezbollah, but it hasn't been a convincing and clear victory.
My first observation is going to be about the drones Israel uses for monitoring, these are small pilotless planes that are flown by remote control and relay back images from their cameras. Whilst these seemed fine for showing a rocket attack underway, they seemed to fall down against satellite intelligence, from which you would be able to trace back where the launcher had originally come from, or movements to and from the launcher. This would have hopefully enabled identification of main storage facilities (this of course assumes they exist) the destruction of which would be a severe blow to Hezbollah. So I'm not convinced that these drones provide the Israelis with sufficient intelligence coverage.
My second observation is about the lack of helicopters, I didn't see many (or possibly any?) now it could be that I missed them, or it could be they weren't there. It could be that Hezbollah was armed with many surface to air missiles making use of helicopters stupid, although I never heared any mention of this. Given that Hezbollah were using the anti-tank missiles (it appeared) fairly effectively, I would have thought that helicopters supporting the tanks could have neutralised this anti-tank capability.
Thirdly and lastly, there was an over-reliance on the tanks (by the Israelis). The tank is a useful heavy armament, but if your opposing force has effective anti-tank weapons then your tank isn't much use. The anti-tank weapon is light, manoeuvrable and easy to use, in contrast with the tank itself. Now anti-tank units can be rendered ineffective, I've discussed helicopters, but the Israeli Defence Force failed to adapt anything to deal with this threat; perhaps they'll come up with a solution, but if they don't, then they can probably deal with an army invading with heavy equipment etc, but they'll never be able to deal with a threat like Hezbollah.
Of course in many ways, the actuality of a ceasefire is a victory (of sorts) for Hezbollah, that being said it has also been convenient for Israel. As this conflict had progressed, it seemed to me that Israel was ill equipped to fight the specific threat Hezbollah posed, they seemed to have plenty of tanks and jet fighter/bombers, but Hebollah had clearly prepared for these with anti-tank munitions and built in concrete defences. Nevertheless, they have I think inflicted some severe damage on Hezbollah, but it hasn't been a convincing and clear victory.
My first observation is going to be about the drones Israel uses for monitoring, these are small pilotless planes that are flown by remote control and relay back images from their cameras. Whilst these seemed fine for showing a rocket attack underway, they seemed to fall down against satellite intelligence, from which you would be able to trace back where the launcher had originally come from, or movements to and from the launcher. This would have hopefully enabled identification of main storage facilities (this of course assumes they exist) the destruction of which would be a severe blow to Hezbollah. So I'm not convinced that these drones provide the Israelis with sufficient intelligence coverage.
My second observation is about the lack of helicopters, I didn't see many (or possibly any?) now it could be that I missed them, or it could be they weren't there. It could be that Hezbollah was armed with many surface to air missiles making use of helicopters stupid, although I never heared any mention of this. Given that Hezbollah were using the anti-tank missiles (it appeared) fairly effectively, I would have thought that helicopters supporting the tanks could have neutralised this anti-tank capability.
Thirdly and lastly, there was an over-reliance on the tanks (by the Israelis). The tank is a useful heavy armament, but if your opposing force has effective anti-tank weapons then your tank isn't much use. The anti-tank weapon is light, manoeuvrable and easy to use, in contrast with the tank itself. Now anti-tank units can be rendered ineffective, I've discussed helicopters, but the Israeli Defence Force failed to adapt anything to deal with this threat; perhaps they'll come up with a solution, but if they don't, then they can probably deal with an army invading with heavy equipment etc, but they'll never be able to deal with a threat like Hezbollah.
Tags: War in Lebanon, military strategy, military tactics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
