The Next Wave

By David Bjerklie and Mark Thompson

The ground war in Afghanistan, when it begins in earnest, won't look like the one in Iraq or Kuwait. Rather than massed troops along front lines, U.S. forces will need to spot small agile targets, stage lightning-quick strikes and then get out quickly

GATHERING INTELLIGENCE

1 Unmanned Gnat and Predator drones equipped with a variety of sensors hover over enemy territory collecting real-time photo and video intelligence

2 Those images are funneled via satellite to ground stations where analysts, briefed on the latest intelligence, look for signs of enemy fighters and equipment

3 If the analysts find something suspicious, they call special-operations teams, stationed nearby and on alert: Green Berets, Army Rangers or Delta Force troops

CLOSING IN

4 A small special-ops force piles into Pave Low or Black Hawk helicopters and swoops in for a closer look, flying low to the ground to avoid surface-to-air missiles and other antiaircraft fire

5 In especially precarious situations, additional troops may be deployed to provide backup. Meanwhile, diversionary bombing runs and other feints keep the enemy off balance

6 Protective air cover may be laid down from above by Apache choppers, AC-130 gunships and F-16s equipped for ground attack

7 The special ops execute the mission, assess the damage, gather whatever intelligence they can find at the site and then, with luck, are whisked back to safety

RQ-1 PREDATOR 450-mile range

Drone flies 84 to 140 m.p.h., up to 25,000 ft. high

Fuel to stay aloft for 24 hr.

Forward-looking infrared radar

Still and video cameras

Special radar maps terrain features as small as 1 ft.

F-16 Gutsy fighter, souped up to ride shotgun

APACHE Armed to the teeth with Hellfire rockets, Stinger missiles and 1,200 rounds of 30-mm ammo

MH-53J PAVE LOW A 21-ton high-tech monster that can land on a dime

Probe for midair refueling

Capable of carrying up to 38 troops

Engine dust filter

Extra 650-gal. fuel tanks

Machine gun fires 4,000 rounds a min.

Terrain-following radar system

CAVE BUSTERS The limestone cliffs of Afghanistan are honeycombed with caves and tunnels, some quite extensive. Here's how the U.S. will take the fight--and the search for bin Laden--underground

EGBU-28 These 5,000-lb. bombs, which have pinpoint accuracy and are capable of penetrating 20 ft. of concrete, can reduce bunkers and cave opening to rubble

FUEL-AIR EXPLOSIVES These disperse a flammable spray and ignite it, producing blast waves that suck oxygen out of enclosed spaces and suffocate occupants

83-mm XM-141 This 15-lb., shoulder-mounted Bunker Defeat Munition has a range of 15 to 500 yds. and can be fired by ground forces on their final approach

TUNNEL RATS At some point special-ops troops will face the unenviable task of crawling into dark and possible booby-trapped caves to find out what--or who--was in there

Sources: DOD, GlobalSecurity.org Federation of American Scientists, SpaceImaging.com Reuters