CuongNhuka
Senior Master
Actually I've heard of our military practicing shooting the canopy of enemy fighters while they are still on the air strip using snipers. The snipers would get withing range (.338 Laupa and .50s will do that) and wait till our attacking aircraft are geting near, but before they can scramble. Then hit the canopy's to disable the defending force till the air assault hits. After than turn the guns on the SAMs to interfear with them.
So yes, there are ways for rifles to give a modern force problems. But I just doubt the terrorist in Afghanistan have the methods to deal with UAVs, laser and GPS guided munitions, spy satelites, NVDs, and all the goodies we have and are thinking up now. See, some of the newist UAVs are the size of the mouse you use on your PC! Even have a bomb built in if desired.
And guys, any of you ever hear of a UAV aircraft carrier? That is a small 1000 ton ship with purely UAVs? I suspect this will be the way to deal with pirates soon, and maybe Taliban, from affair. The 'pilots' will be munching cheesburgers back in Houston while flying over Afghanistain, or Somali.
Yes we can outlast them if we play it right. I remember Admiral Zumwalt, back in the '60s, told the president to NOT go in land heavy (that is grunts on the ground) but to go in sea and air heavy. Of course LBJ did the opposite, and learned, at great cost, we can't keep that up for ever. It got to where we were loosing over 100 GI's a day.
We have done very very well in Iraq for what it cost us. Way less than any other war. But we can and should improve.
So don't be suprised if one day the 'Terminator' is no joke.
Deaf
The problem is, only a person who is there seeing what is going on can tell what to do. So, Arti and Naval Guns are of limited use in this kind of war (a mainly MOUT and/or hit-n-run battles). A pilot can only do so much. I said it some were earlier, but one of my combat instructors told us a US Airforce pilot hit a Marine tank during the 1st Gulf War because the nuckle head thought it was a Russian tank! An overhead view is limiting.
A mouse-sized UAV is cool, but it's.... well, it's stupid. In a sense. I'm geussing it would come with regular and infared sights in atleast three directions (forward, down, and back), with some form of sound transmission, and probably some awe-inspiring range. I'm geussing it's also wildly expensive to make, maintain and operate (imagine the cost of a battery pack for that thing). There's probably also a delay from when something happens near the machine and when the pilot back in Offut Airforce Base finds out about it. And I'm sure there are ways to jam it's transmissions (copper wire jams cell phone signels, and might do something similar with a UAV communications). A UAV is a great tool, don't get me wrong, but the chances of it, or anything else, replacing guys in the feild completly.... well, I just don't see it happening in my life time. It's be awesome if it did though.