Smart Weapons Reduce Civilian Casualty and Collateral Damage The battlefield is moving to highly developed urban environment which demands higher accuracy with respect to weapon delivery in order to reduce civilian casualty and collateral damage. Therefore precision guided munitions will continue to be favored by forces, globally. The advancement in the technologies employed in guided munitions has considerably increased the accuracy, thereby ensuring lower probability of collateral damage in the vicinity of the target area. A smart weapon is a weapon that is directed to strike a target precisely and efficiently, without collateral damage. A smart weapon has multiple guidance such as laser, infrared, satellite, radar, and electrooptical guidance. Smart weapons can be categorized as: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Anti-armor weapons Guided munitions Guided projectiles Stand-off missiles Guided rockets
The increasing complexity within the theatre of war requires the munitions to penetrate reinforced structures such as bunkers, aircraft hangars, and storage depots. To penetrate these hard structures, the munitions require sheer velocity and precise guidance to hit the target. The preferred munitions among armed forces are the munitions with fire and forget capability. These munitions allow the personnel to engage in covert operations. These missiles once fired can direct them to the target. This capability enables the shoot to concentrate to fire at
another target and also to maintain their cover without giving away their location to the enemy. Considering airborne platforms, the typical guidance for missiles are radar, infrared, laser, and satellite. Four bombs, the guidance are typically infrared and satellite. For land-based and naval platforms, the guidance is similar to that of airborne platforms. The challenge presented before smart munitions is the cost. The cost of a single round of smart munitions could cost thousands of dollars. For the Hellfire missiles, a single missile costs about $60,000. A single unit of GBU-15 bomb cost about $200,000. There is also growing criticism of precision munitions that cause civilian casualties and property damage that often leads to protests. Related Reports: Smart Weapons Market Forecast Analysis (2013 - 2018) Contact: Mr. Rohan North - Dominion Plaza, 17304 Preston Road, Suite 800, Dallas, TX 75252 Tel: +1-888-6006-441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com