Troops from the 4th Infantry Division (4ID), based in Tikrit, were among the first to land on French beaches on World War II's D-Day, and their successors are now making history by becoming the world's most technologically advanced division.

"I was sceptical," said Captain Lou Morales, who works in the 4ID's operations centre in a palace building of the ousted Iraqi president.

"But having come here and seen it from a test-bed all the way through to using it in combat operations, I'm a believer."

What he believes in is his division's unique ability to see the battlefield using a technologically advanced but extremely user-friendly "tactical Internet" system.

It allows tanks, helicopters, personnel carriers, jeeps and artillery units to share their locations, information on where enemy units are, and real-time text messages with each other and with officers in command centres.

The battle scene is portrayed on screens in the fighting vehicles and in the command centre, with friendly units shown as blue icons and enemies as red ones on maps that can be magnified to show individual buildings.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, can provide real-time video of battle scenes to complete the information sent by satellites, vehicle-mounted sensors and human observers.

Major General Ray Odierno, who just a few weeks ago was seen on the world's television screens recounting how his men captured Saddam, visits the 4ID's Command Information Centre here several times a day for an update on the state of play in the restive region his men patrol.

The room, littered with laptops and radio sets, is dominated by three large screens that portray maps of the theatre of operations, video feed from UAVs, and tactical information.

The 4ID's technology played a part in the December 13 capture of Saddam in a hole in the ground on a farm near Tikrit.

"The rapid movement of 600 soldiers into the area to cordon it off and tighten the noose was all done in a digital environment," said Lieutenant Colonel Ted Martin, the 4ID's chief of operations.

The technology was developed for "high-end, high kinetic, metal on metal, very fast-paced operations," said Martin. Which in lay terms means full-scale battle between two well-equipped armies.

The US army's first computerized force however missed major combat operations in Iraq in March because Turkey did not let it deploy from its territory into northern Iraq.

The 4ID instead came in through Kuwait and moved north to take up its current position patrolling the so-called Sunni triangle north of Baghdad.

But soldiers in Tikrit say the digits are proving useful in combating the low-level insurgency that supporters of the former regime are conducting against coalition forces.

Sergeant Major Salvador Martinez of the 4ID's 1-22 Battalion is another believer. The system saves lives and cuts down on friendly fire incidents, and because it's Windows-based it's as easy to use as a home computer, he said.

"Those are targets that we hit last night," he said, tapping with a stylus on a "ruggedised" computer screen mounted over the passenger seat on his jeep. On the screen several buildings are highlighted on a map of Tikrit.

If the "digital division" is deemed a success, of which most soldiers here are confident, the next step is likely to be an integrated digitalised army, navy and air force.

Even foot soldiers could be equipped with mini screens showing the same information seen by commanders and crews in vehicles.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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