Raytheon is developing a 13-pound GPS-guided "smart bomb" intended to be dropped from a drone. (Jim Muntz/Raytheon Co. / May 31, 2011)Pentagon Seeks Mini-Weapons For New Age Of Warfare -- L.A. Times
In an effort to cut costs and avoid civilian casualties, manufacturers are developing small 'smart bombs,' drones that resemble model planes and microscopic crystals to tag enemy targets.
Under mounting pressure to keep its massive budget in check, the Pentagon is looking to cheaper, smaller weapons to wage war in the 21st century.
A new generation of weaponry is being readied in clandestine laboratories across the nation that puts a priority on pintsized technology that would be more precise in warfare and less likely to cause civilian casualties. Increasingly, the Pentagon is being forced to discard expensive, hulking, Cold War-era armaments that exact a heavy toll on property and human lives.
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My Comment: Warfare is rapidly becoming a conflict of economics .... the use of expensive jet planes and pricey bombs do not make sense in today's conflicts .... especially when a low cost drone with a small missile can do the same job.