Norm Augustine.

There are few people in the world of defense who have worn as many hats as Norm Augustine. The one-time CEO of Lockheed Martin has served the nation in the government and as the chair of a variety of nonprofits and commissions. When he contributed this piece for the November-December 1975 issue of National Defense, he was undersecretary of the Army for research and development. Most of the items listed in "New Technology for an Army of Opportunity," would come to fruition.

New technology, especially in combination with surprise, indeed has the potential for decisiveness. The Army has been conscious of this, and its list of breakthroughs over the years has been impressive. Interchangeable parts, malaria prophylaxis, the all-electronic digital computer, the atomic bomb, night vision technology, and the first Earth satellite are but a few.

Critical to today's Army and the threat it faces are a whole new series of developments which have the potential for further revolutionizing the battlefield and overcoming the quantitative superiority of our potential enemies. Some, of course, must remain up our sleeve; others may be discussed. None of these systems are laboratory concepts or merely promising ideas. Each has proved itself in actual testing, and most are well along in development.

Canon-Launched Guided Projectile--The world's first indirect-fire point-target weapon, CLGP has demonstrated the ability to achieve first-round hits on speeding tanks at extended ranges. Homing on laser energy placed on the target by hidden forward observers or remotely piloted vehicles, the CLGP can be fired from any existing or developmental ]55-mm howitzer. The morale implications of this weapon on an advancing enemy are formidable, since it turns a howitzer, in effect, into a sniper weapon firing 120-pound high-explosive projectiles.

The Phased-Array Radar--The perimeter acquisition radar of the Army's Safeguard [anti-ballistic missile] system in North Dakota, with its 28,000-square-foot face, can detect and track simultaneously large numbers of objects the size of a beer can over central Canada. Army breakthroughs in this and associated ABM technology are credited as being a major factor in encouraging the Soviets to sign the SALT agreements. This technology is also incorporated on the tactical life in the SAM-D system and will enable that weapon to track and engage many high-speed targets simultaneously.

Artillery- and Mortar-Locating Radars--Both of these...