"Paul F Austin" wrote in message
. ..

This is the first big lessons learned to come out of Iraq War-2. Between
the
Apaches getting put out of action by massed gunfire and the demonstrated
advantages of UAVs, the Army decided that Comanche was last-war's weapon.

There's also another factor: the development of GPS-guided munitions and the
arrival of the JSTARS command platform with its powerful side-scanning radar
that could track targets hundreds of miles away. During Operation Iraqi
Freedom, JSTARS planes frequently guided attack planes carrying JDAM and
JSOW weapons to attack targets with great accuracy where the launch plane
was well away from MANPAD rockets and low-altitude AA guns. At the rate
things are going, we may see after 2010 stealthy fast-flying UAV's dropping
GPS-guided bombs and launching TV/laser-guided missiles.

In short, the days of low-flying attacks by manned aircraft are coming to an
end.

--
Raymond Chuang
Sacramento, CA USA