(London Times) Michael Evans - Twelve years ago, it was the F117 Stealth fighter and Tomahawk cruise missile which dominated the battlefield. This time it will be the satellite-linked Joint Direct Attack Munition (Jdam). Jdam links a "dumb" bomb to a Global Positioning System (GPS) network, guaranteeing greater accuracy than ever before. In addition, the Joint Standoff Weapon (Jsow) is a missile fired from an aircraft at a range of about 40 miles and at high altitude that receives in-flight target updates. Other new weapons systems include the B2 Stealth bomber, the Predator unmanned spy drone armed with Hellfire missiles, and thermobaric bombs, used for the first time against cave hideouts in Afghanistan, which would be particularly effective at incinerating chemical and biological agents.
2002-12-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive