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GPS-Guided Munitions

The massive expansion of precision munition inventories with the turn of the century was largely a product of the introduction of relatively inexpensive and highly accurate guidance systems incorporating receivers for the Navstar Global Positioning System [GPS]. These new munitions will provide accuracies comparable to LGBs, while overcoming adverse weather limitations, and eliminating the need for laser target designation systems.

During Operation Desert Storm, Laser Guided “Smart Bombs” (LGB) were the weapon of choice for precision bombing. Due to the cost of LGB’s and the weather limitations of the Paveway II LGB, GPS guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) bombs are now favored for most missions.

The accuracy of GPS is greater than that of any current navigation systems. It could be used for ALCMs and SLCMs for improved navigation to the target as well as actual target striking information. GPS-Guided Munition [GPS GM] increase the effectivity and usability of precision guided munitions. With pre-programmed smart bombs, American fighters/bombers would have an all-weather precision munitions delivery system since they would no longer be laser dependant. The bombs would be accurate enough to drop in the middle of a town and would still cause minimal collateral damage.

GPSGM would increase the efficiency of bombing runs. During Desert Storm the US often had multiple aircraft with the same target. These aircraft would drop munitions simulataneously, often at the exact target. With preprogrammed GPSGM each target would receive exactly the amount of ordinance determined by war planners. All designated targets would be destroyed, without wasting extra ordinance on already destroyed targets and without leaving designated targets unattacked.

GPSGM increase the safety of American flyers and soldiers. No longer would a laser target designator be required to illuminate a fixed target. This would eliminate the need for a second aircraft or a ground based target designator. It would be along the lines of `fire and forget`. Friendly fire accidents during training and wartime could also be reduced. Hypothetically, GPSGM could be carried on Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs). A GPSGM carrying RPV could be cheaper, faster, and more agile than a human piloted fighter/bomber. Additionally, risk to Americans is completely eliminated under this scenario -- no POWs or dead flyers. The GPS satellite network is already operational. The future cost of this program would be low compared to the gains in usability, safety, and accuracy.

GPSGM would only be effective against fixed targets. For mobile targets such as personnel, armor, and mobile SAMs a more traditional method of attack would be necessitated. GPSGM is 100% dependant upon the satellite network. Should a significant portion of the GPS satellite system be taken out of commission, so would GPSGM. If GPSGM were only a primary system and munitions had a traditional guidance system as a secondary system this weakness could be avoided. Having dual navigational systems would increase weight, complexity, and cost of munitions. It should be noted that potential adversaries of the United States may also use GPS. If they are GPS dependant they would probably be less likely to destroy the satellite network.

These GPS munitions also facilitate accurate delivery of area munitions from the higher altitudes that are characteristic of post-Cold War air operations. Low level employment was one of the most demanding tasks facing fighter/attack crews, but during the Cold War these tactics were dictated by the nature of the Warsaw Pact air defense threat. The major disadvantage of a low level delivery was the requirement to fly over the target and its associated air defense weapons. During the Gulf War air campaign initial aircraft losses early in the air campaign resulted from low-altitude munition deliveries.

Subsequently the majority of bombs were released from aircraft flying above 12,000 to 15,000 feet. Higher altitudes provided a relative sanctuary from most air defenses but resulted in a major compromise in terms of bomb accuracy and, ultimately, effectiveness. Although quite inexpensive and less restricted by low visibility, unguided munitions cannot reliably be employed against point targets from medium and high altitudes. The addition of JDAM and WCMD will solve these problems.

But pending the arrival of these new munitions, American air operations in Kosovo during early 1999 largely depended on the same precision munitions used [or available for use] in Desert Storm in 1991, or Deliberate Force in 1995. These were supplemented, though not yet replaced, by the small numbers of more sophisticated "transitional" weapons that entered the inventory in the early 1990s, as well as very limited numbers of the newer "next generation" weapons transitioning to operational units.

The Joint Direct Attack Munition, which began development at Eglin in 1992, is a high-tech tail kit that can be put on 2,000-pound, 1,000-pound and 500-pound general purpose bombs to convert them into “smart bombs.” JDAM’s high reliability, accuracy and low cost have virtually revolutionized air-to-ground warfare. The JDAM was first used in the 1999 during Operation Allied Force and since then, JDAM has been the weapon of choice for the combatant commanders fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

JDAM accuracy continues to be improved at Eglin with additional system software changes to take advantage of improved GPS features. Weapons relying solely on GPS guidance don’t work well on moving targets. So the Air Force has tested the capability of using JDAMs with a datalink to strike moving maritime targets.

The Paveway™ family of laser guided bombs has revolutionized tactical air-to-ground warfare by converting "dumb" bombs into precision guided munitions. Paveway bombs have been put to the test in every major conflict and proved themselves, time and again, as the weapon of choice by the end-users. They made up more than half the air-to-ground precision guided weapons used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Newer versions of the Paveway bomb include GPS/INS guidance capabilities. This innovation combines the accuracy and flexibility of traditional laser-guided weapons with the all-weather capability of GPS guidance, resulting in a weapon that decreases the required sortie count and weapon inventory while simultaneously increasing the mission success rate.