U.S. using high-tech weaponry

Satellite-directed arms more precise than those launched in Gulf War

10/09/2001

By ED TIMMS / The Dallas Morning News

War in the 21st century is decidedly high-tech.

Coalition forces have attacked Afghanistan with a variety of "smart" weapons: guided cruise missiles and bombs that rely on an array of satellites to strike targets.

"It is part of an ongoing revolution, of which we are only in the early phase," said Daniel Goure, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va., think tank.

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday that about 90 percent of the munitions used in Afghanistan were "guided munitions."

During the Persian Gulf War, when television images of bombs hitting their targets were a popular feature of Pentagon briefings, about 10 percent of the munitions used were precision-guided.

The United States' arsenal includes: Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can be launched from the ground, ships, and submarines; "Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missiles" (CALCMs); and the "Joint Direct Attack Munition" (JDAM).

JDAM technology essentially is a conversion kit that transforms 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound bombs into "accurate, adverse weather 'smart' munitions," according to an Air Force fact sheet.

A tail control section and a guidance control unit is added to the bombs.

Newer precision munitions, such as the JDAM, can use the global positioning system – an array of satellites that provides extremely accurate guidance data – to hit their targets.

Some older precision bombs utilized sensors that homed in on targets that were "painted" with a laser beam, either by a laser-equipped aircraft or an operator on the ground.

While laser-guided munitions were much more accurate than unguided and bombs, there were limitations.

Bad weather and smoke can affect the quality of a laser beam. Not so with GPS guidance.

JDAMs were first dropped from the B-2 bomber during Operation Allied Force, the air campaign that ultimately drove Serb forces from Kosovo.

B-2s flew from Whiteman Air force Base in Missouri and dropped more than 600 JDAMS.

"Clearly it was the star of the Kosovo operation," Dr. Goure said. "It really has already proven itself."

Precision-guided munitions such as the CALCMs can be launched by aircraft that are hundreds of miles away from the targets.

Aircraft carrying JDAMs can basically lob the weapons so that they don't have to fly directly over a well-defended target and from a high altitude that is beyond the reach of antiaircraft fire.

The increased accuracy of such weapons reduces the risk of civilian casualties.

And if the target is, hypothetically, a terrorist leader, holed up in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, precision munitions may be just the thing.

"You can take some of these precision weapons and literally put them right through the entrance of a cave," Dr. Goure said.