Chapter 3

CRITICAL FORCE ENHANCEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Today's U.S. force structure is significantly smaller than the force that was necessary during the Cold War. The force structure outlined in Chapter 2 reflects the results of a wide range of analytical efforts undertaken by the Department of Defense that have further refined the results of the Bottom-Up Review (BUR). To date, follow-on analyses have upheld the basic tenets and findings of the BUR, while guiding DoD in making modest adjustments in plans and programs. U.S. forces will continue to be capable of carrying out the Administration's ambitious strategy of engagement and enlargement, provided that DoD implements the critical force enhancements recommended in the Bottom-Up Review. These enhancements will improve the capabilities, flexibility, and lethality of U.S. general purpose forces. They are geared especially toward ensuring that U.S. forces will be able to bring a large amount of firepower to the conflict in its opening stages and quickly halt the aggression. In most cases, if U.S. forces can accomplish this critical objective promptly, it is far more likely that objectives in later phases of the conflict (including reducing the enemy's war-making capabilities, ejecting enemy forces from captured territory, and decisively defeating them) can be achieved sooner and at less cost and risk.

These enhancements fall into three broad categories:

• Improved effectiveness of early arriving forces.

• Strategic mobility enhancements.

• Improved Army reserve component readiness.

IMPROVED EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY ARRIVING FORCES

Several enhancements will dramatically improve the ability of U.S. forces to halt an enemy armored advance and destroy critical fixed targets in the first phase of conflict. A discussion of these enhancements follows.

Advanced Munitions and Sensors

Advanced munitions provide tremendous leverage to military forces for halting an enemy in the initial stages of attack. Enhancements in this area are discussed below.

• The United States has greatly expanded the precision delivery capability of U.S. combat aircraft. Since Operation Desert Storm, the number of fighter/attack aircraft that can deliver precision-guided munitions against fixed, hardened targets has virtually doubled and will remain roughly at this level of capacity into the next century.

• At the same time, the development and procurement of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) will give virtually all U.S. aircraft the capability to deliver highly accurate weapons in adverse weather and at night, by relying on a combination of inertial guidance and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to guide the weapons to desired impact points.

• The Air Force has also begun procurement of the CBU-97B/Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW), the first of the advanced antiarmor munitions. SFW is a dispenser-delivered, wide-area, adverse-weather munition that gives aircraft the capability to disable or destroy multiple armored vehicles in a single pass. The addition of an inertial guidance unit to the SFW dispenser (the wind corrected munitions dispenser) will allow these weapons to be delivered accurately from medium and high altitudes. The Navy is incorporating SFW as an antiarmor submunition for JSOW that will be operational in 2002.

• The Wide Area Mine (WAM), which is still in development, will be highly effective in disabling armored vehicles and will allow large areas to be sown with smart mines that should be difficult to neutralize. Based on the same design as SFW, WAM can be deployed on either aircraft or missiles. Limited stocks of the WAM should be available in FY 1998.

• The Army is improving its antiarmor capabilities as well. The Longbow fire control radar system, combined with the Longbow Hellfire missile, will give the already effective Apache helicopter even greater capability by adding a fire-and-forget weapon system and improved target acquisition and tracking, particularly in conditions involving adverse weather and battlefield obscurants. The Initial Operational Capability (IOC) is expected in 1997. In addition, the Army and the Marine Corps will begin to field the Javelin man-portable anti tank system in summer 1996. The Javelin combines fire-and-forget technology with top-attack or direct-fire modes to provide a significant increase in the antitank capability of infantry forces.

• The Army is also fielding the Brilliant Antiarmor Technology (BAT) submunition, to be delivered by long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles. This potent, deep-strike system will become operational in FY 2001 and will be capable of effectively attacking a wide range of vehicles, including heavily armored ones. An extended-range ATACMS carrying upgraded versions of BAT will be operational in FY 2003. The Army is also developing the Sense and Destroy Armor (SADARM) submunition, which can be fired by 155mm howitzers. It is scheduled to be fielded in FY 1999.

• Planned improvements in U.S. standoff attack capabilities continue. The baseline Operation Desert Storm-proven Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM) is being improved with increased accuracy, a better warhead, and reduced cost. Two hundred excess air-launched cruise missiles will be modified to CALCM, with delivery expected in 1997. The accuracy and flexibility of the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) -- a proven weapon employed most recently against Bosnian-Serb targets -- will be increased with the development of TLAM Block IV (IOC expected in 2002). The Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) is being improved through a remanufacture program to enhance its standoff range and penetration capability. The JSOW will enhance the survivability, standoff, and range (relative to older munitions) of selected U.S. attack platforms. Similarly, the Enhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile (EFOG-M) antiarmor system, currently in advanced technology development, will provide a significantly improved precision antiarmor capability to forces deployed on the ground. The EFOG-M will allow engagement and destruction of targets at longer ranges with increased precision. Finally, the Air Force and the Navy are jointly sponsoring a new program, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), to develop a weapon with enhanced standoff capabilities. These systems should significantly increase platform survivability.

Taken together, these advanced munitions and sensors will provide U.S. forces with more accurate firepower to blunt an armored invasion in the opening phase of a regional conflict.

Battlefield Surveillance

Accurate and timely information on the location and disposition of enemy forces is a prerequisite for effective military operations. Hence, current planning envisions the early deployment of reconnaissance and command and control aircraft and ground-based assets to enable U.S. forces to see the enemy and to pass information quickly through all echelons. Advances in areas ranging from satellite communication and surveillance to digitization will ensure that U.S. forces have a decisive advantage in tactical intelligence and communications.

New sensors that provide adverse weather surveillance of the battlefield at significantly increased depth of view and with wide-area platforms that provide continuous coverage are essential to U.S. forces' capability to bring force to bear effectively. Several such sensors and platforms are undergoing final stages of development testing and will be fielded in the next few years.

• The Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) will enable U.S. forces to detect moving vehicles deep in enemy territory and across a broad swath. It will also permit forces to characterize stationary targets with its spot mode. The first operational JSTARS aircraft will be delivered in FY 1996, with the full fleet of 20 aircraft reaching the field by 2003.

• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of several types will be able to carry a variety of surveillance sensors and provide long endurance reconnaissance over the battlefield.

• The United States is also improving other airborne reconnaissance capabilities, such as the Guardrail Common Sensor, which provides real-time signals intelligence and precise target emitter location capabilities to multi-Service sensor platforms.

• Numerous improvements to U.S. theater command, control, and communications (C3) capabilities are also underway. U.S. forces are now fielding a new, open-ended defense information architecture that will greatly enhance the timely flow of critical intelligence information and command directions throughout the theater. For example, the Common Imagery Ground/Surface System (CIGSS) allows deployed units to receive and exploit imagery from a wide range of aerial reconnaissance assets. The Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS) provides rapid, secure, jam-resistant communications and data for theater-wide joint force operations. In addition, the Milstar communications satellite constellation will ensure secure global communications capability. The migration towards common communication links will provide fuzed, real-time information that can be shared among joint components as well as allied and coalition forces.

Long-Range Bomber Enhancements

Heavy bombers can play unique and important roles in short-warning conflicts and bring massive firepower to bear during the opening hours and days of conflict. Programs are underway that will increase bomber survivability, sustainability, and precision weapons delivery capability. Once in place, these enhancements will enable the U.S. bomber force of B-1, B-2, and B-52Hs to attack a full range of enemy targets. When armed with the air-delivered advanced munitions previously discussed, the bomber force will be able to quickly and effectively destroy high-value targets, cut lines of communication in rear areas, and disrupt and destroy advancing enemy ground forces.

Enhanced Carrier-Based Airpower

The Navy is examining a number of innovative ways to improve the firepower aboard its aircraft carriers. First, the Navy will acquire stocks of new smart antiarmor weapons for delivery by attack aircraft. The Navy also will fly additional F/A-18s and crew members to forward-deployed aircraft carriers responding to crises. These additional aircraft and crews would increase the striking power of the carriers during the critical early stages of a conflict.

STRATEGIC MOBILITY ENHANCEMENTS

An essential element to being able to prevail in even one major regional conflict (MRC), much less two, is strategic lift capability. U.S. lift assets are the foundation of the force's capability to project combat power around the globe. The first priority in the opening phase of a war would be to get U.S. forces to the fight in a timely manner. In many scenarios, U.S. forces would have no more than two weeks or so to get to the fight if they are to support an effective defense. This places a high premium on forces that are stationed or periodically deployed forward, forces whose main equipment items can be prepositioned in or near a theater of potential conflict, and forces that can deploy from their home bases very rapidly and deliver effective combat power.

Lift assets are also used in nearly every humanitarian and peace operation undertaken by U.S. forces. These unique lift capabilities will continue to make U.S. participation in many multilateral operations a key to their success. DoD is making substantial enhancements to U.S. strategic mobility -- most of which were first identified in the 1992 Mobility Requirements Study. These steps will better posture selected forces for early deployment to potential conflicts.

Strategic Airlift

DoD has programmed sufficient funds to ensure that its military airlift fleet remains capable of deploying and supporting forces as required. The Department plans to continue increasing U.S. strategic airlift capability, replacing its aging C-141 fleet with C-17s. Initially, only 40 C-17 aircraft were ordered, with further orders pending the correction of some of the program's major problems. Because these problems were corrected and DoD analyses indicate the C-17 best meets U.S. airlift needs, the Defense Acquisition Board in November 1995 approved the purchase of 80 additional C-17 aircraft, bringing the total buy of C-17s to 120 aircraft.

Strategic Sealift

DoD also is expanding and modernizing its sealift assets by acquiring 19 additional large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) ships and increasing the Ready Reserve Force to 36 roll-on/roll-off ships. The additional LMSRs will almost double surge sealift capacity for transporting forces and equipment from the United States to distant theaters and support the Army's afloat prepositioning program. Finally, DoD plans to fund various measures that together will improve the flow of personnel, equipment, and supplies from their locations in the United States to the ports from which they will embark. Some of these improvements include expanding rail and airheads at contingency force installations, constructing a containerized ammunition facility on the West Coast, and purchasing and prepositioning over 1,000 railcars for heavy/oversized cargoes.

Prepositioning

Prepositioning heavy combat equipment and supplies ashore and afloat can greatly reduce both the time required to deploy forces to distant regions and the number of airlift sorties devoted to moving such supplies. In October 1994, when Iraqi Republican Guard and other units moved toward Kuwait, U.S. prepositioned heavy brigade sets of equipment in Kuwait and afloat allowed U.S. forces to arrive quickly to contribute to the defense of Kuwait. Before these prepositioning efforts, only about a third of the U.S. ground forces that deployed or were scheduled to deploy in October 1994 would have been on station within the same time frame.

Currently, three Marine maritime prepositioning ship squadrons -- 13 ships in all -- provide equipment to support the flexible employment of Marine Expeditionary Forces. These assets are strategically deployed in the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean, with the ability to relocate to other regions as needed. Funding for an additional prepositioning ship, begun in FY 1995, will further enhance flexible maritime capabilities.

The U.S. Army has established an armored brigade set of equipment afloat which is available to be sent to either Southwest Asia or Northeast Asia. Additionally, the Army added two container ships in FY 1995 that carry 30 days of supply for early deploying units of the entire contingency corps. The Army has also prepositioned one brigade equipment set ashore in Kuwait and is beginning to establish a second heavy brigade and a division base in Qatar (including a tank battalion set of equipment by early 1996) and a brigade set in South Korea. Efforts continue to create an additional brigade set of prepositioned equipment in Southwest Asia and expand Air Force stocks of preferred munitions in-theater. Additionally, the Air Force is modernizing three ammunition ships in a phased restructuring so that they will contain significant quantities of ammunition needed early in a conflict.

Although not a critical force enhancement, the UN Law of the Sea (LOS) Convention ensures navigation and overflight rights that are essential to the mobility of U.S. forces. DoD strongly supports the United States becoming a party to the LOS Convention, which has been forwarded to the Senate for advice and consent. Further details are at Appendix H.

IMPROVED ARMY RESERVE COMPONENT READINESS

The Department of Defense has undertaken several initiatives to improve the readiness and flexibility of Army National Guard (ARNG) combat units and U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) forces in order to make them more readily available for MRCs and other operations. Toward this end, 15 ARNG brigades have been designated as enhanced brigades. Within the overall Army reserve component force structure, readiness initiatives will focus on these 15 enhanced brigades and early deploying combat support and combat service support units. In the ARNG, these 15 enhanced brigades will be resourced sufficiently with personnel and equipment to be ready to begin deploying approximately 90 days after each brigade's respective mobilization. For MRCs, the ARNG enhanced brigades provide additional capability to deal with uncertainty and risk. They can increase Army combat power that can be made available by reinforcing or augmenting deployed active divisions and corps. The USAR has implemented a tiered resourcing program to concentrate readiness initiatives on maintaining a high level of readiness in its early deploying contingency units.

CONCLUSION

These enhancements will substantially increase the capabilities of U.S. forces to conduct military operations in the post-Cold War era. To a large extent, the ability of the United States, in concert with regional allies, to fight and win two nearly simultaneous MRCs in the future depends on the enhancements described above. DoD will continue to ensure that funding for these enhancements receives priority in budgetary deliberations.