GAO: U.S. lacks means to suppress enemy air defenses

WASHINGTON — The United States has failed to take sufficient action to suppress enemy air defenses, a new report says.

The failure could affect U.S. warplanes patrolling no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq as the military of President Saddam Hussein is upgrading its air defenses.

The General Accounting Office, the watchdog of Congress, said the Pentagon lacks what it terms a comprehensive strategy to suppress enemy air defenses. The report, "Electronic Warfare: Comprehensive Strategy Needed for Suppressing Enemy Air Defenses, said this is undermining the ability of U.S. forces to operate.

The report urges Washington to establish a doctrine to resolve the issue. Without this, the GAO said, the United States will be unable to accomplish its war objectives.

Citing studies conducted for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the GAO said the military has failed to adapt to the upgrading of fixed radar systems into an integrated air defense. These integrated models would incorporate telecommunications links, passive sensors, and advanced means of avoiding suppression.

The GAO said the U.S. military lacks either the quality or quantity of systems necessary to protect aircraft from a full range of military operations. This strategy would require innovative suppression solutions utilizing multiple technologies and cutting across individual service lines.

Currently, services of the U.S. military employ aircraft called jammers to temporarily suppress enemy air defenses by transmitting electronic signals that disrupt enemy radar and communications. Other aircraft use anti-radiation missiles that home in on radar used by surface-to-air missile or anti-aircraft artillery systems to destroy them.

The GAO said that since 1996, the U.S. military services have tried restore suppression capabilities lost through the retirement of the EF-111 and F-4G aircraft. One way has been to increase the number of air force F-16CJ and Navy/Marine Corps EA-6B suppression aircraft.

But the report criticized what it described as the limited and piecemeal approach to suppression of enemy air defense. The air force is improving the performance of the F-16CJ's targeting system. In addition, the Navy is upgrading the electronic warfare equipment on the EA-6B to improve its radar jammer performance and is working on improvements to increase the effectiveness of the high-speed anti-radiation missile.

The navy is conducting a study, scheduled for completion toward the end of the year, to determine the most cost-effective alternatives for the future. Alternatives being considered include modifications to manned and unmanned aircraft for replacement of the EA-6B by 2015.

"Within the Department of Defense, no comprehensive, cross-service strategy for closing the gap between the services' suppression capabilities and needs exists, and no coordinating entity has been tasked with preparing such a strategy, to identify, among other things, suppression mission objectives, needed solutions, funding, timelines, and mechanisms to track progress," the report said. "Consequently, service-level decisions are much less likely to reflect the needed priority for closing the gap and to be the most cost-effective solutions for the department overall."

The Pentagon agreed with the GAO's findings but disputed its recommendation. The Pentagon maintained that it is already addressing some shortfalls, citing the ongoing upgrade efforts.