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Air Force developing smaller bombsBut they won't be ready for possible Iraq conflict
From Barbara Starr
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In today's 21st advanced warfare, sometimes smaller is indeed better. The Air Force is developing a new category of advanced small precision bombs that officials say will provide new more cost efficient means of attacking difficult targets without risking collateral damage. The weapons are not going to ready in time for possible war against Iraq, but a full-scale effort is under way to get them operational as soon as possible. In a critical development, the Air Force this week finished flight testing a 500-pound version of the current 2,000 pound Joint Direct Attack Munition. The tests were completed at Eglin AFB in Florida. This smaller version is planned for use on the B-2 bomber which will eventually be configured to carry 80 of the small bombs. Military officials say that will provide a critical advantage by allowing 80 separate fixed targets to be attacked in one mission, only putting one crew at risk over enemy territory. The advantage of the smaller weapon also is that it can precisely hit a potential target in a crowded environment while minimizing damage to surrounding areas that may contain civilians or commercial areas. For some targets, such as small radars, the 2,000 pound JDAM currently used is "overkill" as one military official said. Those 80 small bombs can be individually programmed prior to flight, or reprogrammed after takeoff. Like the larger JDAM, the weapon essentially consists of a guidance kit fitted onto a so-called dumb bomb. The bomb is steered to the target by an inertial navigation unit which calculates position, velocity and altitude in relation to the target. It then is guided in the final stages more precisely by coordinates provided by Global Positioning System satellites. Before the B-2 can carry the new smaller JDAM, a new bomb rack will have to be developed. It is estimated to be available by 2004. A smaller number of the new JDAMs also will eventually capable of being deployed on B-1 and B-52 bombers as well as the F-16 and F-18 if funding is provided. Boeing Corp currently has a $45 million development contract for the small JDAM. Now that testing is done, a production contract is expected. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are competing on another new weapons program, the 250-pound "small diameter bomb." This also includes precision guidance against fixed targets, but the Air Force is hoping to quickly develop a version that could be used against critical mobile targets. The plan for the future is to also deploy the bomb on the future "unmanned combat aerial vehicle" ---an unmanned bomber drone the Air Force is trying to develop.
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