Military Gadgets: How Advanced Technology Is Transforming Today’s Battlefield…and Tomorrow’s

Chapter 3. Munitions

Modern munitions include a wide variety of bombs and missiles that are used for air-to-surface, air-to-air, surface-to-air, and plain on-the-ground warfare. In recent years, beginning with the Gulf War, technology has enabled these munitions to increase their range and accuracy while making them easier for coalition forces to “fire and forget.” This fire-and-forget capability enables them to launch their weapons and continue their other tasks as the weapon is guided toward its intended target. The current trend is for smarter, more accurate weapons that can be launched from increased standoff distances from an increasing range of aircraft platforms to protect our troops by keeping them out of range of enemy defenses.

In the ...