Hi-tech arsenal decisive - if targets can be found

In a war characterised as the most hi-tech in history, the first strikes of the battle for Baghdad are being carried out using weapons systems whose effectiveness against Iraqi armour was proven in Kuwait in 1991.

The three Republican Guard divisions dug in to the south, east and west of Baghdad, the first line of the capital's defence, are being pounded day and night by air strikes involving cruise missiles and 2,000lb satellite-guided bombs dropped by B-52 bombers.

Yesterday, the US central command in Qatar showed video images of an Iraqi tank and an armoured personnel carrier being destroyed by air strikes, despite being dug in.

"The big question will be finding the Iraqis," said Rupert Pengelly, technical editor of Jane's. "If they can do that, they should not have too much trouble hitting them because the precision weapons they are dropping from a great height can penetrate much more than a few metres of earth."

The US is also using 1970s-era A-10 ground attack aircraft - nicknamed Warthogs - to hit the Iraqi positions. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, A-10s carried out devastating attacks on Iraqi armour and ground forces, accounting for more than 980 confirmed hits on tanks and a similar number on artillery.

They are equipped with Maverick missiles, which can be laser-guided by special forces on the ground, as well as having an infrared guidance system allowing them to be used in the dark.

The Mavericks have a heavyweight warhead with a delayed fuse allowing them to penetrate fortified positions before exploding. Harrier GR7s also carry the missiles.

Apache helicopters from the 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment, part of the US army's 5th Corps, were involved in a heavy firefight with Republican Guard positions 60 miles south of Baghdad, according to reports yesterday. The Apaches have been used to strike targets well ahead of the main ground forces as they advance north. One of the helicopters was downed and although it is unlikely this was done by farmers as the Iraqi information minister claimed, it reignited doubts among some defence analysts about their usefulness yesterday.

"People who say that attack helicopters are the future of the battlefield are off their head," said Charles Hayman, editor of Jane's World Armies. "Against heavily fortified Iraqi positions there is no substitute for heavy armour and artillery."

The artillery leading the assault on the Republican Guard divisions also saw extensive service during Desert Storm: the multiple launch rocket system (MLRS). It was used in Kuwait to smash through Iraqi defences.

Yesterday, Channel 4 News journalist Carl Dinnen, who is with the US 5th Corps 4th Field Artillery, equipped with MLRS vehicles, said his unit had fired two missiles at targets in southern Baghdad.

But the use of MLRS may create problems further down the line. The missiles and rockets it fires release bomblets which do not have a self-destruct capability if they miss their target, raising the prospect of areas close to Baghdad being strewn with unexploded ordnance.