Download or read book Weapons of Choice written by Paul G. Gillespie and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History and deployment of smart weapons In the United States, efforts to develop precision guided munitions—PGMs—began during the First World War and resulted in an 'aerial torpedo' by the 1920s. While World War II was dominated by large-scale strategic bombing—essentially throwing out tons of free-falling munitions in the hope they hit something important—both sides in the war worked to develop airborne munitions that could be steered toward a target. However after that war, U.S. national security policy focused on the atomic bomb, hardly a weapon that needed to be directed with accuracy. The cost of emphasis on atomic weapons was revealed in the general unsuitability of American tactics and weapons deployment systems during the Vietnam War. Lessons learned in that conflict, coupled with rapid technological developments in aerodynamics, lasers, and solid-state electronics, brought air power dramatically closer to the "surgical strike" now seen as crucial to modern warfare. New technology created attractive choices and options for American policymakers as well as field commanders, and events in the Arab-Israeli wars, the U.S. raid on Libya, and most dramatically in the first Gulf War created an ever-increasing demand for the precision weapons. The prospect of pinpoint delivery of weapons right to the enemy's door by speeding aircraft seems to presage war in which the messy and politically risky deployment of ground troops is unnecessary. The potential of such weapons, and their strategic limitations, made the Gulf War and Iraqi War living theater for assessing what such weapons can and cannot do and have important implications for planning for future warfare.
Download or read book Precision guided Munitions and Human Suffering in War written by James E. Hickey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Hickey proceeds from the premise that throughout history, humans have demonstrated a proclivity for using violence against one another as a means to achieve an end, means enabled, in many respects, by the technologies available at the time. Advancing technology has often been a prime enabler of ever-increasing levels of violence and attendant human suffering. At a few junctures in history, however, certain technologies have seemingly provided the armed forces that possess them the ability to fight wars with decreasing levels of violence and suffering. Today, precision-guided munitions (PGMs) with their high degree of discrimination and accuracy again hold such promise. This book seeks to answer the question: Do PGMs mitigate suffering in war, and have these weapons changed the way decisions regarding war and peace have been made? Answering this question helps us understand possible shifts in emphasis in modern warfare, both in terms of methods employed and of the greater concern placed on limiting human suffering during conflict. This book will help students of ethics, just war and military history and senior military and civilian leaders to understand the possible outcomes and wider implications of their strategic choices to use such technology.
Download or read book Post Cold War Conflict Deterrence written by Naval Studies Board and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-04-16 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Deterrence as a strategic concept evolved during the Cold War. During that period, deterrence strategy was aimed mainly at preventing aggression against the United States and its close allies by the hostile Communist power centers--the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies, Communist China and North Korea. In particular, the strategy was devised to prevent aggression involving nuclear attack by the USSR or China. Since the end of the Cold War, the risk of war among the major powers has subsided to the lowest point in modern history. Still, the changing nature of the threats to American and allied security interests has stimulated a considerable broadening of the deterrence concept. Post-Cold War Conflict Deterrence examines the meaning of deterrence in this new environment and identifies key elements of a post-Cold War deterrence strategy and the critical issues in devising such a strategy. It further examines the significance of these findings for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Quantitative and qualitative measures to support judgments about the potential success or failure of deterrence are identified. Such measures will bear on the suitability of the naval forces to meet the deterrence objectives. The capabilities of U.S. naval forces that especially bear on the deterrence objectives also are examined. Finally, the book examines the utility of models, games, and simulations as decision aids in improving the naval forces' understanding of situations in which deterrence must be used and in improving the potential success of deterrence actions.
Download or read book Precision guided Munitions and Human Suffering in War written by James E. Hickey and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Hickey proceeds from the premise that throughout history, humans have demonstrated a proclivity for using violence against one another as a means to achieve an end, means enabled, in many respects, by the technologies available at the time. Advancing technology has often been a prime enabler of ever-increasing levels of violence and attendant human suffering. At a few junctures in history, however, certain technologies have seemingly provided the armed forces that possess them the ability to fight wars with decreasing levels of violence and suffering. Today, precision-guided munitions (PGMs) with their high degree of discrimination and accuracy again hold such promise. This book seeks to answer the question: Do PGMs mitigate suffering in war, and have these weapons changed the way decisions regarding war and peace have been made? Answering this question helps us understand possible shifts in emphasis in modern warfare, both in terms of methods employed and of the greater concern placed on limiting human suffering during conflict. This book will help students of ethics, just war and military history and senior military and civilian leaders to understand the possible outcomes and wider implications of their strategic choices to use such technology.
Download or read book Precision Guided Munitions written by Paul G. Gillespie and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the history of an emergent class of weapons known collectively as precision guided munitions (PGMs). Arising from historical antecedents in the First and Second World Wars, the specific technologies that made precision guidance a reality in the late 1960s were, nevertheless, the unique product of concerted actions taken within the U.S. military, the federal government, and civilian industry. Precision weapons did not emerge as a natural consequence of technological change, but were consciously constructed in response to the purposes, ethics, and values of American society. Certainly the creation of important enabling technologies, notably lasers and semiconductor integrated circuits, played a decisive role in the development of these advanced weapons. However, the emergence of guided weapons is inexplicable without also considering America's evolving defense policy; the military doctrine that translated that policy into specific weapon systems; and twentieth-century wartime demand, which stimulated research and development by providing added urgency, requirements, and resources. Entering America's arsenal at the height of cold war tensions, PGMs provided an appealing alternative to the largely impotent nuclear bombs and missiles that had become the centerpiece of U.S. military strategy. Post-Vietnam military operations highlighted a marked shift in emphasis away from mass destruction in favor of inflicting precise, controlled damage. Reliance upon this technological innovation has produced a remarkable three-tiered revolutionary transformation in munitions technology, armed conflict, and U.S. national security policy.
Download or read book The Long Road To Desert Storm And Beyond The Development Of Precision Guided Bombs written by Major Donald I. Blackwelder and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the long development of precision guided bombs to show that the accuracy attained in Desert Storm was an evolution not a revolution in aerial warfare. This evolution continues and gives offensive airpower the advantage over the defense. Guided bomb development started during World War One with the “aerial torpedo”. During World War Two the German Fritz X and Hs-293 were visually guided bombs and both experienced success against allied shipping. The Army Air Corps also developed a wide variety of TV, heat, radar, and visually guided bombs. The visually guided AZON was successful in Burma and the radar guided Bat was successful against Japanese ships. During the Korean War visually guided RAZON and TARZON bombs had some success. In Vietnam the Paveway I laser-guided bombs and Walleye TV-guided bombs were successful on a much broader scale. Paveway II and III, Walleye II, and GBU-15s were developed and successfully combat tested throughout the 1970s and 1980s. When Desert Storm initiated in 1991 there were very few guided weapons that had not been extensively tested on training ranges and in combat. The precision demonstrated to the World during Desert Storm started evolving when airpower was first envisioned as a new dimension for conducting war, and was far from a revolution. Now, the continued development of imaging infrared, laser radar, synthetic aperture radar, and millimeter wave radar autonomous seekers further increases the flexibility, range, and effectiveness of guided bombs.
Download or read book Effects of Nuclear Earth Penetrator and Other Weapons written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-10-06 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Underground facilities are used extensively by many nations to conceal and protect strategic military functions and weapons' stockpiles. Because of their depth and hardened status, however, many of these strategic hard and deeply buried targets could only be put at risk by conventional or nuclear earth penetrating weapons (EPW). Recently, an engineering feasibility study, the robust nuclear earth penetrator program, was started by DOE and DOD to determine if a more effective EPW could be designed using major components of existing nuclear weapons. This activity has created some controversy about, among other things, the level of collateral damage that would ensue if such a weapon were used. To help clarify this issue, the Congress, in P.L. 107-314, directed the Secretary of Defense to request from the NRC a study of the anticipated health and environmental effects of nuclear earth-penetrators and other weapons and the effect of both conventional and nuclear weapons against the storage of biological and chemical weapons. This report provides the results of those analyses. Based on detailed numerical calculations, the report presents a series of findings comparing the effectiveness and expected collateral damage of nuclear EPW and surface nuclear weapons under a variety of conditions.
Download or read book Precision guided Weapons written by James Digby and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first part of this paper discusses enough about the mechanics of these weapons to give the reader a feel for how they work and provide brief descriptions of some of the more important weapons associated with non-nuclear land combat. The brief treatment here mentions only a fraction of current PGM developments; it is characteristic of the pace of development that dozens of new PGM types in many countries reach operational testing each year. The second part of the paper focusses on a number of important and so far unresolved implications of the new weapons; it discusses their likely effects on force posture and on the conduct of warfare. For example, what is their effect on the relative usefulness of the advanced tank, the complex fighter-bomber, and the big aircraft carrier. What will be the consequences for the organization of land forces, and for their tactics.
Download or read book Dual Use Technologies and Export Control in the Post Cold War Era written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1994-02-01 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book arises from a joint NAS-Russian Academy of Sciences program to explore possible new approaches to the control of sensitive dual-use technologies, with respect to expanded trade between Western advanced industrialized countries and the republics of the former Soviet Union as well as to the export trade of the Russian and other CIS republics with countries of proliferation concern.
Download or read book Precision guided Munitions written by James Digby and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report was prepared for the conference on 'The Impact of New Technologies on U.S. Defense Planning for Non-Nuclear Conflict, ' sponsored by The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, September, 1974.
Download or read book Weapons Acquisition written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Inventing Accuracy written by Donald MacKenzie and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1993-01-29 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Mackenzie has achieved a masterful synthesis of engrossing narrative, imaginative concepts, historical perspective, and social concern." Donald MacKenzie follows one line of technology—strategic ballistic missile guidance through a succession of weapons systems to reveal the workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology.
Download or read book Precision Guided Firearm written by Fouad Sabry and published by One Billion Knowledgeable. This book was released on 2022-08-18 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What Is Precision Guided Firearm Long-range rifle systems known as precision guided weapons (PGFs) are meant to increase the accuracy of firing at targets at longer ranges via the use of target tracking, heads-up displays, and improved fire control. The introduction of PGF technology to small weapons, which was inspired by missile lock-on and fighter jet technology, reduces various causes of marksman mistake, such as mis-aim, trigger jerk, and shot setup miscalculation. At extreme ranges of 1,100 meters or farther, PGFs have the potential to greatly boost the first shot success probability (FSSP). How You Will Benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Precision-guided firearm Chapter 2: Rifle Chapter 3: Shooting Chapter 4: Bullet Chapter 5: .50 BMG Chapter 6: Grenade launcher Chapter 7: Needlegun Chapter 8: Caseless ammunition Chapter 9: Heckler and Koch XM8 Chapter 10: Smart bullet Chapter 11: Riot gun Chapter 12: Accurizing Chapter 13: XM25 CDTE Chapter 14: Milliradian Chapter 15: Benchrest shooting Chapter 16: S and T Daewoo K11 Chapter 17: EXACTO Chapter 18: PAPOP Chapter 19: Precision-guided munition Chapter 20: TrackingPoint Chapter 21: Long range shooting (II) Answering the public top questions about precision guided firearm. (III) Real world examples for the usage of precision guided firearm in many fields. (IV) 17 appendices to explain, briefly, 266 emerging technologies in each industry to have 360-degree full understanding of precision guided firearm' technologies. Who This Book Is For Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of precision guided firearm.
Download or read book Precision Guided Munitions and the New Era of Warfare written by Richard P. Hallion and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Precision Revolution written by Michael Russell Rip and published by US Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since so-called smart bombs debuted in the Vietnam War, precision weapons have been an expected part of modern warfare. While most Americans are aware of the use of these technological wonders, frequently viewing images of pinpoint accuracy on their television screens, few understand how the weapons work. In this very readable explanation, Michael Rip and James Hasik not only clarify the complex technology but chronicle the use of these modern marvels and elaborate on the promises and the pitfalls behind them. At the root of today's precision weapons is the Global Positioning System (GPS) -- the same system used by professional marine and aerial navigators and even by modern hikers, drivers of upscale automobiles, and sailboat owners. The authors remove much of the mystery of this satellite-based system, explaining how it has revolutionized the art and science of navigation and overturned many of the solutions to the age-old problems of targeting. Relevant examples taken from today's headlines demonstrate both the capabilities and the limitations of these weapons. Their use in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the stand-off engagements in the no-fly zones of Iraq make a great deal more sense with this book in hand. Many of the emerging debates spawned by a mandated review of U.S. defense policy are clarified. From the details of the weapons systems and their employment to their political implications, this sweeping analysis of the effects of a revolutionary technology on military operations and strategy is without parallel. A wealth of illustrations help the reader understand how technologies work and fit together, how they are practically used, and what they mean for the future.
Download or read book Precision Guided Weapons written by Rand Corporation and published by . This book was released on with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Decisive Force written by Richard G. Davis and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the U.S.Air Force strategic bombing campaign of Iraq & Iraqi armed forces occupying Kuwait from January 17th through February 28th, 1991 . Describes the aircraft & weapons, changes in technology & the reexamination & reapplication of traditional strategic bombing theory by USAF planning officers. Provides a chronological review of the campaign with an analysis of the results. Photos, maps, graphs & tables. Includes suggested readings.
