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If you are going to blow something up, using these GPS guided smart missiles is actually much cheaper than previous generations of explosive ordinances. 1. You
by hx8 1y ago
If you are going to blow something up, using these GPS guided smart missiles is actually much cheaper than previous generations of explosive ordinances.
1. You can only use one missile to hit a target. In pre-gps era we would would dozens or hundreds of rounds to ensure one of them destroys the target.
2. You can fire from a safe distance. Using artillery or dropping bombs from an airplane involves physically getting closer to the target. This introduces much more complexity that adds to the overall cost.
3. There is significantly less collateral damage when using a single missile for a target compared to bombing the general direction of the target.
4. We take significantly less risk of casualties when using these missiles.
- KennyBlanken 1y agoExcept that because of all those things, the government is more likely to use it so the "it's cheaper!" argument doesn't hold water. The comparison is not between "do it without smart bombs and drones" vs "do it with smart bombs and drones" and the former costing more. The comparison is between "if we didn't have the smart bombs and drones, we wouldn't have done anything because whatever it was wouldn't have been worth the cost in money and American lives" versus "we spent a million dollars blowing up some stuff because we could do it on the cheap and with no risk." On a broader scale the US's involvemnt in the foreign affairs of other nations skyrocketed when we went from having volunteer armed forces to a "professional" armed forces. Ike predicted as much in his rant about the military-industrial complex.
- hx8 1y agoExcept WW1, WW2, Korea and Vietnam were all very costly and direct engagements. US involvement in foreign affairs skyrocketed because WW1/WW2 destroyed Europe and created a power vacuum that we were eager to fill. If we didn't have these smart bombs we would just be involved in fewer but more bloody global conflicts.
- nradov 1y agoGPS guidance isn't effective against adversaries with even the most basic electronic warfare capability. Ukraine mostly stopped using those systems years ago due to Russian jamming / spoofing. But other precision guidance mechanisms remain at least somewhat effective.
- oneshtein 1y agoRussia uses GPS module «Cometa» («Комета») with 4-24 GPS modules at one plate. https://reibert.info/lots/kometa.1605164 https://reibert.info/lots/kometa.1605164 https://reibert.info/lots/kometa.1605128 https://reibert.info/lots/kometa.1605128 https://www.olx.ua/d/uk/obyavlenie/kometa-8-kometa-m-gps-IDYmLjl.html https://www.olx.ua/d/uk/obyavlenie/kometa-8-kometa-m-gps-IDY... https://www.olx.ua/d/uk/obyavlenie/kometa-5-kometa-m-gps-IDYcYUB.html https://www.olx.ua/d/uk/obyavlenie/kometa-5-kometa-m-gps-IDY...
- potato3732842 1y agoModern and historic cruise missiles mostly use dead reckoning navigational tactics and check these against terrain maps in software. This is why they famously flew them over Iran when they bombed Iran in '91. The software wasn't yet good enough to be sufficiently assured there wouldn't be some error/drift over the fairly featureless desert resulting in some small fraction of the missiles getting confused and landing in the middle of nowhere Saudi Arabia or something.
- selimthegrim 1y agoBombed Iraq
- potato3732842 1y agoThey flew them over Iran on their way to bomb Iraq Edit: Now I see my mistake, lol