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American Morning
Hunt For Iraq's Scud Missiles
Aired January 15, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Twelve years ago during the Persian Gulf War, Iraq terrorized the region by using its Scud missiles. The mobile launchers very elusive. In fact, U.S. forces could not find a single one throughout that conflict.
Since then, a dozen years later, amazing new technology has been developed to try and hunt down the Scuds, and Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon to tell us whether or not this technology may work this time around.
Barbara -- good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, indeed the U.S. military is getting ready to confront Saddam Hussein's Scuds once again, and this time, they say the outcome will be different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): It was the one thing Saddam was good at, terrorizing Israel in the Persian Gulf with his Scud missiles, forcing the U.S. to begin a major effort to find his hidden launchers to keep the furious Israeli government from entering the war. By the time Desert Storm was over, 88 Iraqi Scuds struck targets in the region. The U.S. flew hundreds of unsuccessful missions looking for Scuds.
Twelve years later, there is little evidence to verify whether actual launchers or just decoys were hit. Iraqi crews had perfected the art of shoot-and-scoot, moving launchers before the U.S. could find them.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Initially, the Scud hunting was done from the air only, and it was quite unsuccessful for several reasons. One, at that altitude, 10,000-15,000 feet, to find camouflaged, concealed weapons systems is very difficult to do.
STARR: This time, the Pentagon hopes better intelligence and new technologies will help in targeting an unknown number of launchers and the two dozen Scud missiles the U.S. thinks Iraq has.
The hunt will take place mainly in western Iraq, where the Scuds are believed to be hidden. To target Scuds, the Air Force is training more operators of the Predator unmanned drone, a system it didn't have in Desert Storm. The Predator can loiter for 24 hours, and with a laser designator, watch for the movement of launchers and call in an attack. U.S. installations have the new Joint Tactical Ground Station, a sensor which reports missile launches immediately to attack aircraft. This avoids another Desert Storm problem: Shooters waiting to get data from satellites passing over Iraq.
COL. JOHN WARDEN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The picture had to be sent some place, and somebody had to analyze it. And then by the time that you had looked at it and made a decision, 30 minutes, an hour or more has passed.
STARR: CNN has learned the Army also has developed a new infrared sensor it may put on the Predator or other reconnaissance aircraft that will be sent to the region.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Bill, here is why it's all so critical. People will remember in February, 1991, an Iraqi Scud struck a U.S. military housing barracks in Saudi Arabia; 28 people were killed, over 100 injured. That was the single largest combat casualty incident of that war -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, as you well know, 12 years ago, the Scud missile was a source of major frustration on behalf of the U.S. military. Bottom line as they speak, either publicly or privately, how confident are they now in tracking these down?
STARR: They feel the technology is much better. There are two issues on the table. One, on Saddam's side: Do those Scuds really work? No one knows. They've been in storage, they've been hidden for over a decade. Are they in working order? That is a big question. All Saddam needs is one lucky shot.
But the bottom line is, this remains the most critical issue for the U.S. military. They need to find these Scuds. They think it will be critical to keeping Israel from entering the war if Saddam decides to use them.
HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 15, 2003 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Twelve years ago during the Persian Gulf War, Iraq terrorized the region by using its Scud missiles. The mobile launchers very elusive. In fact, U.S. forces could not find a single one throughout that conflict.
Since then, a dozen years later, amazing new technology has been developed to try and hunt down the Scuds, and Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon to tell us whether or not this technology may work this time around.
Barbara -- good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, indeed the U.S. military is getting ready to confront Saddam Hussein's Scuds once again, and this time, they say the outcome will be different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): It was the one thing Saddam was good at, terrorizing Israel in the Persian Gulf with his Scud missiles, forcing the U.S. to begin a major effort to find his hidden launchers to keep the furious Israeli government from entering the war. By the time Desert Storm was over, 88 Iraqi Scuds struck targets in the region. The U.S. flew hundreds of unsuccessful missions looking for Scuds.
Twelve years later, there is little evidence to verify whether actual launchers or just decoys were hit. Iraqi crews had perfected the art of shoot-and-scoot, moving launchers before the U.S. could find them.
GEN. DAVID GRANGE, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Initially, the Scud hunting was done from the air only, and it was quite unsuccessful for several reasons. One, at that altitude, 10,000-15,000 feet, to find camouflaged, concealed weapons systems is very difficult to do.
STARR: This time, the Pentagon hopes better intelligence and new technologies will help in targeting an unknown number of launchers and the two dozen Scud missiles the U.S. thinks Iraq has.
The hunt will take place mainly in western Iraq, where the Scuds are believed to be hidden. To target Scuds, the Air Force is training more operators of the Predator unmanned drone, a system it didn't have in Desert Storm. The Predator can loiter for 24 hours, and with a laser designator, watch for the movement of launchers and call in an attack. U.S. installations have the new Joint Tactical Ground Station, a sensor which reports missile launches immediately to attack aircraft. This avoids another Desert Storm problem: Shooters waiting to get data from satellites passing over Iraq.
COL. JOHN WARDEN, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The picture had to be sent some place, and somebody had to analyze it. And then by the time that you had looked at it and made a decision, 30 minutes, an hour or more has passed.
STARR: CNN has learned the Army also has developed a new infrared sensor it may put on the Predator or other reconnaissance aircraft that will be sent to the region.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Bill, here is why it's all so critical. People will remember in February, 1991, an Iraqi Scud struck a U.S. military housing barracks in Saudi Arabia; 28 people were killed, over 100 injured. That was the single largest combat casualty incident of that war -- Bill.
HEMMER: Barbara, as you well know, 12 years ago, the Scud missile was a source of major frustration on behalf of the U.S. military. Bottom line as they speak, either publicly or privately, how confident are they now in tracking these down?
STARR: They feel the technology is much better. There are two issues on the table. One, on Saddam's side: Do those Scuds really work? No one knows. They've been in storage, they've been hidden for over a decade. Are they in working order? That is a big question. All Saddam needs is one lucky shot.
But the bottom line is, this remains the most critical issue for the U.S. military. They need to find these Scuds. They think it will be critical to keeping Israel from entering the war if Saddam decides to use them.
HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
