Ludzie pragną czasami się rozstawać, żeby móc tęsknić, czekać i cieszyć się z powrotem.
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■ Ensure necessary roads are usable. Quickly build needed roads. Deny roads to enemy use.
■ Conduct engineer reconnaissance.
■ Establish water points. Test for water purity in conjunction with med-
ical units.
■ Construct defensive positions and camouflage headquarters area.
■ Build helicopter landing pads.
■ Prepare wells and water sources for demolition.
■ Flood areas to hinder enemy mobility; drain areas to improve own mobility.
Engineer Reconnaissance
On the March. Engineers are located well forward within movement
formations to facilitate mobility of the main force.
In the Offense. Identification of enemy obstacle and fortification effort
is a priority during offensive missions. Engineers may participate in this
reconnaissance effort.
In the Defense. An engineer platoon is generally located in the defen-
sive security zone with the reconnaissance battalion.
Movement Support
Lines of Movement. The Iraqis have constructed a sufficient road sys-
tem. Iraqi engineers are experienced with hasty road construction in a
harsh environment where few alternate routes exist.
In the Defense. Iraqi engineers can construct and maintain the neces-
sary road networks to allow rapid movement of reserve or counterat-
tacking forces.
Road Preparation. The Iraqis have extensive road construction and
improvement capabilities. These roads are for reinforcement, supply
and resupply of the forward defensive line. Construction techniques
include route clearing, widening, and oil surface treatment.
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Iraqi combat engineer equipment is predominately civil engineering
equipment, such as dozers and graders. They may have some older
Soviet equipment, to include: BAT-M route clearers, MDK ditching
machines, TMK trenchers, and IMR (T-55 based) obstacle clearing
vehicle. Other equipment is quite varied as it has been purchased from
several nations.
Iraqi engineers probably train to former Soviet standards. The Soviet
standard for preparation of a hasty road in desert terrain was 2.5 to 3
kilometers per hour. This estimate is with an engineer road platoon
employing mechanized means (BAT, truck-mounted crane). Soviet engi-
neers would construct cross-country routes as necessary. An engineer
company (with 2 or 3 graders, 2 or 3 dozers, 4 to 6 crane shovels or
backhoes, 4 to 6 rollers, and 10 to 12 vehicles) can construct 2 to 2 1/2
kilometers per day in moderately sandy terrain. An engineer company
(with 2 dozers, 4 to 6 rollers, 10 to 12 dump trucks, and 4 to 6 crane
shovels or backhoes) can repair 10 kilometers per day in moderately
sandy terrain.
Overcoming Water Obstacles. Iraqi bridging assets consist mostly of
Soviet-made equipment:
Soviet MTU-20 (AVLB)
Czech MT-55 AVLB (Iraqi AVLB units)
TMM Truck Launched Bridges
PMP Pontoon Bridges
GSP Amphibious Ferry
PTS Amphibious Transporters
AVLB
Mineclearing. Engineer units hold Iraqi countermine equipment. The
Iraqis employ British and Soviet countermine doctrine, but their units
have fewer countermine assets overall than equivalent Soviet units.
Iraqi countermine equipment is technologically simple, yet has the
capability to defeat complex obstacles which include mines, if the
equipment is used in combination.
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The Iraqi inventory of countermine equipment is as follows: hand-held mine detectors and Soviet vehicle-mounted mine detector (DIM). The
Iraqi hand-held mine detection capability was recently upgraded with
UK-produced MD2000 metallic mine detectors. They can detect mines
with a low-metallic content. They are used in conjunction with the
Soviet and Iraqi hand-held metallic detectors and the Soviet vehicular-
mounted DIM mine detector. The Iraqis have little or no equipment to
detect non-metallic mines.
Soviet tank-mounted mine plows (KMT-4/6) and rollers (KMT-5). A
tank platoon is allocated one KMT-4/6 or KMT-5 from the division field
engineer battalion if supplies allow.
Soviet rocket-propelled line charges with vehicular and man-portable
variants. The trailer-mounted version is the UR-77, which clears a lane 90 meters long and 6 to 8 meters wide, with a standoff of 150 meters.
Bangalore Torpedoes. Hand-emplaced explosive line charges used in a manner similar to those used by U.S. forces.
Fuel Air Explosives (FAE). FAE can be useful for mineclearing operations due to both blast and overpressure effects.
Mechanical mine clearance equipment is expendable by nature. There-
fore, sustained offensive operations utilizing mechanical mine clearance
equipment could result in shortages of the equipment resulting in a
decreased countermine capability.
Engineer Obstacles
Types of Minefields
The Iraqi army maintains a large stockpile of mines (estimated at 10
million) that can be deployed manually, mechanically, aerially, and by
artillery/rocket. Iraq has acquired state-of-the-art mines from numerous
countries. All types of antipersonnel (AP) and antitank (AT) mines are
available, as well as limpet, sea mines, and antilanding mines. Some of
these mines are designed to thwart detection and disarming.
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The Iraqi army may have chemical mines with mustard fill.
Defensive positions are supplemented with minefields and non-explo-
sive obstacles such as AT ditches and wire. Minefields are placed to
channel enemy armor into the divisional kill zones, which may contain
more mines, tank traps, trenches, and concertina. In some locations, an
approaching enemy may also face Iraqi flooding operations. Thus, the
channeling minefields serve to complement the AT weapons at the Iraqi
commander’s disposal.
Various scatterable mines currently available in Iraq further complicate