Army to equip helos with 'low cost' munitions.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 March 2006
• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Published date: 01 March 2006
• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

THE ARMY SOON may begin arming its combat helicopters with an undersized missile that could surgically destroy targets in urban areas without killing or maiming friendly forces or innocent civilians.

All through the counterinsurgency in Iraq during the past three years, military officials have acknowledged that, in most cases, the munitions that fighter jets, bombers and helicopters deliver often are too large and too destructive to be effective in a conflict where the goal is to defeat isolated pockets of entrenched insurgents without striking friendly troops and civilian bystanders.

Even ground-based artillery has limited use, as it delivers devastating firepower and rounds often miss the target.

"You don't want to be imprecise in an urban environment," says Gen. William Wallace, head of the Army Training and Doctrine Command and a former field commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Many of the Army's helicopters hunting insurgents in Iraqi cities carry Hellfire...