It's amazing what you can learn editing Defense Industry Daily. For instance, the Dick Corp. in Large, PA has just received a $79 million defense contract to, uh, expand the facilities at Pensacola. No, I'm not making that up.
On a more serious note, check out the use of ATFLIR targeting pods on F-18 fighter jets in Iraq... not only were they extremely helpful, they've actually begun to shift the aircrafts' role. On some flights, surveillance over urban terrain during ground operations was their primary mission - but it takes more than technology to make that possible.
It takes doctrine, and training, and practice. American soldiers are getting all 3. Nor does it stop there.
In another story today on DID, P-3C Orion turboprop planes, long relegated to maritime patrol, are receiving "surface attack" weapon and sensor upgrades. Even as they're being deployed over land in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
When combined with UAVs deployed down the food chain, the U.S. military is beginning to achieve levels of capability and coordination that are making "the networked force" a reality, and creating new levels of lethality on the future urban battlefield.
I feel a little dirty just reading the headline Joe.
For the truly embarrassing, a local studio of the dance here put up a sign about its Spring Rectal. Sorry, you started it.
And do hope increasing accuracy will help keep our aim as non-lethal as possible to innocents.
Ruth,
Depending on the average population age in your area, this may actually improve turnout.
And yes, the desire to avoid collateral damage is a big factor driving all of these developments. The downside is, it also contributes to cost bloat by making weapons systems more expensive by an order of magnitude. Can't have one without the other, though - or at least, no one in the world has figured out how yet.
Dick Corp actually built a new headquarters outside of Large, but changed its mind and decided not to move in. So they remain Large's Dick Corporation.
Thanks, praktike - mystery solved. I thought The Dick Corp. might have chosen their town intentionally, but couldn't prove it before.
This is kind of like deliberately changing your name to "Englebert Humperdinck," isn't it?