U.S. Developing New Family of ‘Smart’ Bombs
The United States is developing satellite-guided bombs and other new “smart” weapons to dominate battlefields the way allied aircraft did in the Persian Gulf War, the Air Force’s top general said Tuesday.
The weapons, including launchers that compensate for wind and new warheads that seek out specific targets without human guidance, will be available in a few years, Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman said in an interview with defense writers.
He said he was encouraged by the positive attitude of Congress toward the need for military modernization to preserve the high-tech superiority that devastated Iraq’s army from the air in the 1991 Gulf War.
New Jointly Directed Attack Munitions will carry computer chips that allow space satellites to tell them exactly where they are in relation to targets, improving pinpoint accuracy even beyond laser-guided bombs used in the Gulf.
“These munitions, I am convinced, will be available,” Fogleman said.
“This is an area that has really received preferred attention during the building of the 1996 budget.”
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