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Smarts on Target
Why is the U.S. Navy buying only enough special bomb racks (130) to equip four percent of its F-18 fighters? The problem here is that the JDAM is so efficient that most F-18s are lucky to drop one of them per sortie. The smart bombs have eliminated speed as a problem, and made that larger bomb carrying capacity a virtue. The targeting pods enable the pilots to make out armored vehicles from 20,000 feet up, and twenty kilometers away. The fighter pilots keep quiet about it, but they are eager to strut their new stuff against a large enemy armor force. In theory, a force of fifty fighters (F-16s, F-15s, F-18s, F-35s, even F-22s) could destroy an enemy tank division in a few hours. The potential enemies, particularly the Chinese, are alarmed at this prospect, and are desperately seeking a solution. So far, they haven't found one. Not yet. Posted by: 3dc 2007-07-02 |
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