Aerial fire support: guiding strikes more quickly and more accurately
The current strategic paradigm highlights the essential role of aerial fire support in the management of increasingly complex conflict situations. With cameras trained upon them almost constantly, air strikes must be organised so that troops on the ground can achieve their objectives without causing collateral damage. As such, they need to combine fire power with optimum precision. This involves ensuring top-quality intelligence is in place before carrying out the strike, as well as excellent planning, and in some cases, ground tracking to ensure that the coordinates are accurate, and that the operation is fast and discreet.
Upstream intelligence is a crucial element which is based on collecting all available information about the target in order to ensure a precise strike. Such action is only possible with strong knowledge of the objective: the strike target location set-up, the precise role of the target, any limiting factors (proximity of residential areas or dangerous equipment storage areas, etc.). This intelligence requires having a range of sensors (optical imaging equipment and radars) and extremely advanced analytical capabilities, in order to extract the most relevant information from the data collected.
Faster and more discreet tracking
When the planning phase is complete, the scheduled strikes may be carried out following various procedures. Aerial targeting (pods) or ground tracking by a JTAC[1]. This controller works close to the target, near the enemy. The request to fire must be made quickly and discreetly.
With this in mind, some armed forces are currently implementing compact digital systems that are light and ergonomic for JTACs, who used to carry heavy, impractical equipment. These systems are integrated into the bullet-proof vests of the JTACs, and feature map tools with highly precise target localisation of the objective, which yields reliable tracking, and an effective liaison with senior commanders, ground forces, and the aircraft in the area, through HF/V-UHF communications networks. This tool speeds up the process by automatically providing the fire support request. The only element that somewhat hinders discretion is the requirement of voice confirmation. With a system such as this, the JTAC is in a position not only to offer precise guidance for chance opportunity strikes that require rapid response times, but also to carry out BDA[2] through full motion video capture capabilities that allow the JTAC to confirm the success or failure of the operation using images of the objective transmitted by aircraft in the area.
A major advantage in cases that are as complex as those in the Middle East or the Sahel for instance.