The Bulls-Eye War
If you can locate your target, you can destroy it. One shot, one tank - or one aircraft or even one ship. This stark fact has changed the face of ' conventional' warfare just in the last few years. The Arab-Israeli war of 1973 was a nasty shock to military thinkers. Egyptians carrying small Russian suitcases crossed the Suez canal in broad daylight and proceeded to knock out Israeli tanks one shot at a time. The Israelis replied and in the space of 21 days both sides lost 3,000 tanks and 600 aircraft to precision guided weapons.
In this new world of electronic wizardry in warfare, missiles guided by their own television cameras, by infra-red or radar seekers, computers and laser rays, have no need of humans. Furthermore, they are cheaper than frigates, manned aircraft, and tanks, which they can hit with a single, bull's-eye shot. So where does that leave European defences? Narrator FRANK GILLARD
Film editor CHRISTOPHER WOOLLEY Editor PETER GOODCHILD
Written and produced by DOMINIC FLESSATI