Washington: The US military plans to bring in a new array of weapons, infrared sensors and communications gear in an event of war with Iraq and the new gadgets promise to make the conflict quicker than the 1991 Gulf war.

Also, more than 80 per cent of all air-to-ground munitions will be precision-guided in a new war with Iraq compared with 10 per cent in the 1991 war. The ability to hit more targets, using fewer missions, is one reason why the number of American troops being sent to the region is half the half a million deployed in 1991, a media report said.

"When you roll it all together, I say we are 10 times more powerful," said retired Air Force lieutenant general Thomas McInerney. "And Saddam is about 30 per cent of what he was before, so you can see how we can achieve rapid dominance using 'effects- based' operations."

The US also has a mobile defence system against short and medium range missiles far more dependable than was available during the Gulf War, according to US officials.

They said the military has deployed a sophisticated ground-radar system in Qatar to help protect allied and US forces in the Persian Gulf from Iraqi missile attacks called the 'joint tactical ground station'.

Another big advancement is the development of unmanned spy planes, such as the Air Force 'Predator' and 'Global Hawk' and the Army's 'Shadow'. The remote-controlled drones can loiter aloft for long periods of time, sending back video images.

Commanders can use "real-time" intelligence to direct air strikes or re-position ground forces.

Army assistant secretary Claude Bolton and retired rear admiral Philip Smith, a former P-3 Orion pilot expressed confidence that in any event, America's new precision weapons would shorten war.

The Army, The 'Washington Times' said, plans to quickly deploy its new Shadow 200 spy plane if the US goes to war against Iraq. In the Persian Gulf, the Navy has America's newest attack jet – the F-18 Super Hornet – ready for its first extended war-time action.

"A major factor," said Admiral Smith, "will be the precision weapons, and they are far superior today to the ones in Desert Storm. It is unbelievable. I think military will be successful in not too much time."

Bolton listed battlefield improvements made during the last decade. He spoke of the emerging Shadow surveillance drone, better night vision gear, a new communication network called "force 21 battle command, brigade and below," and an improved model of the Apache tank-killing helicopter.

"We had a good capability in situation awareness in the Gulf," said Bolton, a retired Air Force major general and a former jet fighter test pilot. "I would say it is much improved now."

Perhaps, said the paper, there is no greater battlefield advancement since 1991 than the deployment of a satellite-guided bomb, the joint direct attack munition (JDAM).

Whether JDAM is a deciding factor in a war with Iraq could be known in the opening days of the war. War plans call for an unprecedented use of the B-2 to drop independently targeted JDAMs on critical targets. If the B-2s successfully strike command centres, air defences and Saddam's security forces, the strikes could shorten the war.

PTI