Definition

Battle Damage Assessment—the evaluation of damage caused to enemy targets during strikes. It's the post-attack scorekeeping system, often optimistic about what was actually destroyed.

Example Usage

Initial BDA suggested three targets destroyed, but later intelligence revealed two were decoys and the third was only moderately damaged.

Origin

Systematic approach developed during World War II for evaluating bombing effectiveness

Fun Fact

BDA has a notorious history of inflated success rates; military and political leadership has a way of seeing what they hope to see in the rubble.

Source: NATO air operations assessment procedures

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