U.S. Boosts Precision Weapon Stocks

AP | 7/15/02 | MATT KELLEY

[Crossbow Eel]

 
 

Lets Roll !

[Nam Vet]

Dear God yer busy tonight Kitty!! Now I'll read the article. Yer amazing.

Nam Vet

[Mo1]

U.S. weapons makers have doubled the production rate of laser-guided bombs, added a shift to assemble satellite-guided bomb tailkits and boosted output at one ammunition factory to its highest level in 15 years.

Highest level in 15 years huh???

Wonder when the fireworks will start

[seeker41]

I'm guessing Oct.2002. We can't afford for saddam to complete his plans and pass out more goodies to the evil doers.

[Carry_Okie]

This is the best news I have seen on the military front in a long time. Now if they start talking about increased spare parts production we'll know that Rumsfeld is starting to turn the Pentagon into more than a patronage system.

The things I could tell you about waste in the high-rel military electronics business would make you puke.

[Robert_Paulson2]

The military still has only a fraction of the 40,000 to 50,000 JDAMs it wants, said analyst John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org."

translation?

We have 450,000 more than we need, and action is imminent!!! Somewhere big....

[Mariner]

24 JDAMS per B1 sortie.

Devote 50 B1's to sortie from Diego Garcia, Twice a day (two crews) = 2400 high-altitude 2klb precision guidance weapons a day.

Add another 1500 from B52's.........and another 2000 from tactical aircraft and you could get a real conflagration going real quick.

Around 6000 PRECISE hits per day.......plus the "special" bunker/CCC hits and these folks will fold in less than a week. More than one bomb for every tank and aircraft they have, every day.

We'll have to intervene to keep the Kurds from killin' 'em all.

IF ya'll thought the first Gulf war was spectacular, wait for part deux. There were so few targets in Afganistan we couldn't show off much. But Iraq is a target rich environment and this'll be a real show.

In exchange for airfields, I'd guess the Turks, Hashemites and Persians will get to divide the spoils......just the way things used to be, and rightfully so according to some.

[A Navy Vet]

This can't be true. According to the auto-Bushbashers, he's doing nothing to build our military.

[AmericaUnited]

"auto-Bushbashers" - That's funny! Also known as Knee-Jerk-Bush-Bashers.

[Unknown Freeper]

bump

[Ed_NYC]

We need every single one of them

[dennisw]

No recession in this business.....

[dennisw]

Impressive!! All bombs 40 released at one. A sign they are all precision guided. (My guess)

[NerdDad]

6,000 hits per day? Not as many as I would hope for but I guess I'll settle for that. [grin] More serious note, like the Okie said, it takes spare parts to keep those planes flying 2 sorties per day. Especially the old dogs.

I also did not see mention of the Daisy-Cutter. I recall that being one of the real special treats for the "Elite Republican Guard" troops. A real favorite. They are cheap ($27,0000), and at 15,000 lbs, a whole lot of bang for the buck. Not real precise, but hell, we're talking about Iraq here. Why waste $2mil cruise missiles when the press will tell us that the only thing we hit was orphanages and milk factories anyway.

[eno_]

So who do you think needs to know we'll have 40,000 JDAMs? Could it be IRAN?

[eno_]

Now compare that kind of firepower to what a squad can hump in on its backs, or even what a batallion of mobile howizters and its supply chain can provide. And the howizters move at 50mph (best case) versus 500mph (all conditions) for the bomber. JDAMs and tactical air support plus special forces with combat air controllers look to be the way wars are fought now.

[elfman2]

"The things I could tell you about waste in the high-rel military electronics business would make you puke."

I think gross waste is indivisible from the military. For the people at the bottom, it's feast or famine. And at the top, you generally have to count on paying triple.

[FreeAtlanta]

I still think artillery is necessary for quick continuous response. If, however, the drones get beefed up and we can keep a few hundred over the battlefield at all times, then maybe artillery isn't needed as much.... but, what if we face an enemy with who has a viable laser defence? Artillery might be the only thing that could hit him.

[Dog Gone]

Bush has been unable to press the Iraq issue until our supplies of these weapons have been replenished. Thanks to Bill Clinton, we barely had enough to take on Afghanistan, a very target-poor environment.

Someday I hope I get the honor of spitting on his grave.