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What are Precision Guided Munitions?
PGM’s are weapons that can accurately reach and destroy a target without relying solely on the physical delivery method of the weapon, such as throwing or releasing it by a plane or missile. PGM’s use guidance technology such as laser, GPS or other methods to guide the weapon to its target with high accuracy, even from distances of several kilometers away. Some common types of PGMs include smart bombs, cruise missiles and precision artillery shells.
History and Development of Guidance Technologies
The development of Precision Guided Munitions began during World War 2 with programs to add basic guided systems to bombs. Early systems usedradio control to guide bombs but had limited ranges and accuracy. Laser guidance was pioneered by the United States in the 1960s, allowing bomber crews to paint a target with a laser designator and guide bombs onto the target. This helped minimize civilian casualties during operations. In the 1970s, the US began adding GPS receivers to bombs and missiles, vastly improving their accuracy even without the need for line of sight. Later generations added infrared sensors and imaging cameras for autonomous target recognition.
Today, nearly all modern militaries field an array of precision guided weapons. Guidance kits can convert unguided bombs into “smart” bombs. Cruise missiles can precisely strike targets moving on land, sea or air. Artillery shells can hit within a few meters of the aimed point. New technologies like electronic warfare jammers, anti-radiation missiles and loitering munitions expand precision strike capabilities. Swarms of small precision drones open possibilities that were unfathomable just decades ago. These advances fulfill the long sought goal of precisely applying force only against military targets while avoiding civilians.
Benefits of Precision Guided Munitions
By achieving extremely high target accuracy, PGM’s offer significant military and strategic advantages over unguided weapons:
– Minimal collateral damage – Precision allows destroying the intended target while avoiding adjacent buildings or infrastructure. This prevents unnecessary destruction and civilian casualties.
– Lower munition expenditures – A single precision strike can achieve what took dozens of unguided bombs previously. Less munitions are needed per target destroyed.
– Longer ranges – GPS/INS guidance allows glide bombs and cruise missiles to precisely hit targets hundreds of kilometers from their launch point.
– New target types – Moving vehicles, portable missiles, ships and other evasive targets can be attacked because precision weapons don’t rely on direct impact.
– Psychological impact – The ability to precisely threaten critical infrastructure discourages adversaries from certain actions or escalation.
– Cost-effectiveness – While individually precision munitions cost more, their accuracy means less wasted strikes. Overall they lower mission costs in many combat scenarios.
Drawbacks and Limitations
Despite clear advantages, PGMs still have some limitations and drawbacks:
– High unit costs – GPS/imaging/laser systems make individual PGM’s much more expensive than unguided munitions. Affordability remains a concern.
– Reliance on technologies – Digital and electro-optical systems can be jammed, spoofed or damaged. Reliance on Global Nav Sat networks leaves weapons vulnerable if those assets are compromised.
– Difficulties with new target types – Some elusive targets like underground facilities or individual persons remain challenging to precisely locate and attack. Autonomous target recognition also presents technical and policy issues.
– Tactics evolve in response – Adversaries disguise targets, operate from protected areas like hospitals, or launch military actions from within dense civilian areas to exploit precision weapons’ aversion to collateral damage.
– Perceptions of reduced risk encourage wars – There is an ongoing debate whether perceived politico-military benefits of precision at times lower the threshold for parties to engage in conflicts.
Overall while precision guided weapons have strengthened many military capabilities, adversaries will continue evolving tactics to challenge them. Affordability and reliance on technologies for guidance also remain areas demanding continued progress.
Impact on Modern Battlefields
Precision guided munitions have revolutionized modern armed conflicts and air campaigns over the last few decades. Besides enabling new strike strategies with minimal collateral damage, some of their notable impacts include:
– Dominance of air power – Air forces can now destroy ground targets from stand-off ranges without needing direct exposure over the battlefield. This multiplies their effectiveness.
– Faster campaigns – The ability to rapidly identify and eliminate critical enemy infrastructure and weapons through precision strikes shortens military campaigns immensely.
– Maneuver and logistics challenges – Adversaries must constantly relocate key assets as they risk being rapidly identified and destroyed otherwise. This hinders operations.
– Urban warfare changes – Precision reduces dangers of operating specialized munitions in dense civilian areas, allowing targeted attacks on enemy forces blending within.
– Maritime strike evolution – Threats to ships from land and air have grown manifold through sea/land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship precision glide bombs.
– Battlefield transparency – Precision ISR platforms combined with real-time cuing allow strikes immediately responding to emerging targets on ground or at sea. This creates an omniscient vantage.
While transforming many dimensions of modern warfighting, precision guided systems will remain a leading focus for scientific innovation and security strategies globally in the coming decades. As their affordability and reliability improve further, their impact will only keep expanding.
In Summary, Precision-guided munitions have transformed modern warfare by significantly enhancing the accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency of military operations. These advanced weapons systems employ cutting-edge technology, including GPS, laser guidance, and inertial navigation, to precisely target enemy assets with unprecedented accuracy while minimizing collateral damage. The use of precision-guided munitions has revolutionized military tactics, allowing armed forces to conduct precise strikes against enemy targets with greater confidence and reduced risk to civilian populations.
*Note:
- Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
- We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
