According to the Wall Street Journal, the plan is to equip the Iraqi army with M-16s. How stupid can the US government get? As Phillip Carter says….

With this program, we’re making the job of our advisers in the field significantly tougher, notwithstanding the contractor support at Camp Taji for the training of Iraqis. Although, I seriously doubt these Iraqis can shoot their rifles with anything approaching proficiency after three days. You spend more time than that in basic training learning how to get dressed, let alone learning how to shoot. Training marksmanship takes weeks or months or years, not a few days. This program has the potential to fundamentally change the mission calculus for advisers working with the Iraqi army, such that they must now focus much more time on individual weapons skills vice actual patrolling and combat operations. I also wonder whether this is the best use of Iraqi funds, or whether it would’ve been smarter to fix the AK-centric logistics system they already have.

I think that T.E. Lawrence’s ghost is probably laughing at us right now. What next? Will we try to give laptops, e-mail and PowerPoint to the Iraqi army? Oh wait…

Some commentators on Mr. Carter’s blog argue that giving M-16s to the Iraqi army is a good thing. After all, the weapon takes so much careful maintenance to maintain that in the absence of American support and supervision they are likely to become useless.

But that argument only strengthens my point. Does the US government want to turn Iraqi army into effective force or not? If they do, giving them M-16s is the last thing they should be doing. Heck, the co-creator of the M-16 recently said that if his son was over in Iraq he would want him to have an AK.

This from Aviation Weekly:

U.S. aerospace industry and retired military officials indicated the Israelis utilized a technology like the U.S.-developed “Suter” airborne network attack system developed by BAE Systems and integrated into U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle operations by L-3 Communications. Israel has long been adept at using unmanned systems to provoke and spoof Syrian surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, as far back as the Bekka Valley engagements in 1982.

And what is Suter?

This from a different Aviation Weekly article….

Senior Suter is a Big Safari-managed special access program. Big Safari itself is a shadowy Air Force unit that has developed small numbers of specialized reconnaissance systems, including drones, in what are often classified programs. The Suter technology was developed during the last several years by BAE Systems and involves invading enemy communications networks and computer systems, particularly those associated with integrated air defense systems (AW&ST Aug. 16, 2004, p. 24; Nov. 4, 2002, p. 30). Suter 1 allowed U.S. operators to monitor what enemy radars could see. The capability enables U.S. forces to assess the effectiveness of their stealth systems or terrain-masking tactics. Suter 2 permits U.S. operators to take control of enemy networks as system managers and actually manipulate the sensors, steering them away from penetrating U.S. aircraft. Suter 3 was tested last summer to add the ability to invade the links to time-critical targets, such as battlefield ballistic missile launchers or mobile surface-to-air missile launchers. Aircraft involved in the Suter programs include the EC-130 Compass Call, RC-135 Rivet Joint and F-16CJ strike aircraft specialized for suppression of enemy air defenses.

Here is a Defense Tech article on the subject of Suter. Also, h/t to Defense Tech for bringing the Aviation Weekly article to my attention.