The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 20, 2003
'Smarter' Weapons
The U.S. military will employ cutting-edge technology in an assault on Iraq to attack ground targets such as power stations, troops and vehicles, command-and-control centers, bridges and communications links. Here are the main weapons available to the U.S. military:
GBU-31/32 JDAM
The Joint Direct Attack Munition system is basically a kit to make dumb, unguided bombs into smart, precision weapons. The kit allows what were gravity bombs to be propelled up to 15 miles and to be guided by satellites with a high degree of accuracy. The two most common bombs to be converted have 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound warheads.
F-15E STRIKE EAGLE
Considered to be the most advanced tactical fighter aircraft in the world, the F-15E is the fifth version of the Eagle to come off the McDonnell Douglas assembly line in St. Louis since 1972. While retaining the best features of its predecessors, the "E" model is equipped with an array of new avionics, electronics systems and expanded smart weapons capacity. Previous models of the Eagle are assigned air-to-air roles, the "E" model is a dual-role fighter. The mission of the Strike Eagle is to fight its way to a target over long ranges, destroy enemy ground positions, and fight its way back out.
BLU-118 THERMOBARIC BOMB
One of the U.S. military's best hopes of destroying hidden chemical and biological weapons, the thermobaric weapon delivers a high-temperature, high-pressure blast in tunnels and caves. Thermobaric bombs were first used against Taliban and al-Qaida targets in 2002. The bomb, which can be attached to a laser-guided missile, is able to penetrate farther into a tunnel than the best of the "bunker busters."
CBU-97 is designed to slow or halt the forward progress of enemy ground forces by attacking armor and support vehicles. After release, the bomb canister opens and dispenses 10 submunitions, BLU-108s, each of which deploys a parachute. When the submunitions locate an armored target using infrared sensors, they each launch up to four armor-piercing projectiles.
RQ-1 PREDATOR DRONE
The unmanned, long-range aircraft were first deployed in Bosnia in the mid-1990s. Until the war in Afghanistan, the Predator was mainly used as a surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. But the CIA and the military have equipped some of the drones with Hellfire missiles. Several Predators have been shot down in the past few years.
AGM-114 HELLFIRE MISSILE
After ground forces mark a target using a hand-held laser, the Hellfire missile seeks its target using a laser guidance system.
HIGH-POWERED MICROWAVE BOMB (E-BOMB)
The most intriguing new weapon in the U.S. arsenal, the so-called e-bomb, is not meant to kill people. This weapon, if deployed for the first time, would aim to destroy the enemy's electronic equipment by emitting a focused, electromagnetic pulse that would ruin any equipment based on semiconductors. A Tomahawk cruise missile probably would deliver the weapon because the electromagnetic pulse could disable any vehicle that delivers it.
BLU-114 BLACKOUT BOMB
The BLU-114 submunitions are designed to cripple electrical power grids by dispensing large numbers of chemically treated carbon graphite filaments. The filaments short-circuit electrical power distribution equipment such as transformers and switching stations.
B-52H STRATOFORTRESS
One of the heaviest and oldest aircraft used by any military in the world, the
B-52 has been modified from a high-altitude bomber to one that can move in low and fast. The B-52 is capable of releasing gravity bombs, cluster bombs and precision-guided missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads.
F-117A NIGHTHAWK
The nearly invisible radar signature of the Nighthawk, the world's first stealth aircraft, made it the only jet to strike inside Baghdad's city limits during the 1991 Gulf War. It accounted for 2.5 percent of the total force of fighters and bombers in 1991, but it flew more than a third of the bombing runs on the first day of the war. More than 3,000 antiaircraft guns and 60 surface-to-air missile batteries protected Baghdad, but the Nighthawks owned the skies over the city and escaped the war unscathed.
GBU-27 PENETRATOR BOMB
A guided bomb with a 2,000-pound warhead. The GBU-27 was modified for use on the F-117 stealth fighter. The operator uses a laser to designate a target, and the bomb follows the laser energy radiating from the target. The warhead can penetrate more than 6 feet of reinforced concrete. Recently, the Air Force also has equipped F-16s to use the GBU-27. This bomb was used by F-117 pilots extensively during the Gulf War.
EA-6B PROWLER
The Prowler's job is to detect and neutralize enemy tracking devices. To do this, it uses sensitive receivers to detect radar signals to determine whether they should be jammed using high-powered transmitters or destroyed using high speed antiradiation missiles.
AGM-88 HARM MISSILE
To gain air superiority in the early part of a campaign, enemy radar sites that target U.S. jets would have to be destroyed. To do so, U.S. forces will use this high-speed antiradiation missile. The missile follows transmissions from radar stations. Because radio frequencies used by enemy and friendly radar are similar, the pilot must be certain he has a visual sighting of the enemy radar.
BGM-109 TOMAHAWK CRUISE MISSILE
Launched from surface ship or submarine.
12 BAT submunitions can be deployed from a Tomahawk cruise missile
BAT SUBMUNITION
Tanks and other armored vehicles have traditionally been attacked from the back, where armor is thinner. But armor is also thin on top, and BAT (brilliant anti-tank) submunitions (left) aim for this vulnerable area. When released from inside another missile, four wings pop out of this weapon and it glides toward a preprogrammed target. The BAT uses its acoustic sensors to identify the general location of a tank, after which the infrared sensor directs the BAT to hit it directly from the top, destroying it with a two-stage penetrating warhead.
AGM-154 JSOW
A recent addition to the Navy and Air Force arsenal, the Joint Standoff Weapon allows the launching jet to release it and then fly in a different direction while the missile stays on course for up to 45 miles.
The AGM-154 JSOW can deploy more than 100 BLU-114s.
Sources: Austin American-Statesman, Federation of American Scientists, Jane's Information Group, GlobalSecurity.org, New York Times, Associated Press, Department of Defense, RAND.org and "Modern American Weapons"
/ MICHAEL DABROWA / Staff
GRAPHIC: Graphic: Illustrations of weapons described.
Copyright © 2003, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
