Free Republic

The combat zone just got a little more high-tech as soldiers in Afghanistan began testing and training on five prototype weapons that fire smart bullets. Army officials are calling the XM25 Counter Defilade Targeting Engagement System revolutionary since it is the first time soldiers will have a smart weapon in their hands. Smart weapons have some form of a processing unit that allows them to be self-guided or, in this case, have self-adjusting sights and programmable rounds. The XM25 — which is not much bigger than a standard service rifle — fires 25 mm rounds that can be programmed to...

The army and the air force fight over who can be trained to call in air strikes just keeps on getting uglier. The basic problem is that the air force is stonewalling U.S. Army efforts to expand the FAC (forward air controller) force. The army wants FAC support as widespread as their current artillery FO (Forward Observer, for artillery and attack helicopter) support. The air force insists that air force pilots be part of the FAC teams (which mostly contain air force sergeants), have higher security clearances and generally remain air force personnel. The army wants to train their people...

What's New With Smart Weapons A Precision Guided Munitions [PGM] is a missile, bomb or artillery shell equipped with a terminal guidance system. It contains electrical equipment that guides it in the last phase before impact. The terminal guidance unit is designed to sense emitted or reflected EMR (electromagnetic radiation) within its field of view. Target Acquisition (TA) systems must be used to employ a PGM, and include the human eye, which is the most commonly employed TA system. Others include radar, TV and forward-looking IR sensor display systems, and systems using laser quidance. The classic target acquisition cycle is...