Researchers dedicated to improving munitions.

• Author: Farrell, Lawrence P., Jr.
• Position: President's Perspective

It is by now common knowledge that precision-guided weapons and the precise battlefield effects they create have helped the United States achieve tremendous military successes in recent years. Our success is not only due to precision targeting and delivery but also to the warheads themselves.

A neophyte might think that we already have discovered all we need to know about warheads and energetics. However, not only has the technology improved dramatically, but we also seem to continue to find new and innovative ways to employ the latest smart munitions.

The performance of PGMs in conflicts in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq during the past decade proves that it is no longer a question of how many sorties it takes to kill a target, but rather how many targets can be killed in one sortie.

In the years ahead, however, it is fair to predict that further improvements in precision strike are in the offing. Not generally appreciated are ongoing advances in warhead technology and concepts for how weapons fit into the concept of Network Centric Warfare.

Researchers and engineers in government and industry are working diligently to develop new technology--with a heavy emphasis on rapid transition from the laboratory to the assembly line.

Military planners, meanwhile, continue to create new concepts of operations for smart munitions, based on lessons learned from each conflict. At the Air Armaments Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., for example, researchers and developers want to be able to "data link" every weapon in the battle zone, effectively creating a network of cruise missiles and smart bombs embedded in the operational network of weapons and sensors platforms. That would allow commanders to retarget weapons in flight, significantly expanding the options available for killing targets. It also would help prevent friendly fire and civilian casualties. The mantra at Eglin has three components: network-capable weapons, plug-and-play architectures and data-linked weapons. New capabilities in this area could emerge within the next three to 10 years.

Another example of the remarkable evolution that we are seeing in weaponry, including precision-guided munitions, is in the area of warheads and explosives.

These are not necessarily the glamorous technologies--like GPS guidance or advanced sensors--but are vital pieces of what makes a weapon effective.

The extraordinary work that government laboratories and private firms are doing in this arena was...