Steve Cole reports on how the Air Force wants to deal with guys with little missiles:
The US Air Force wants to go after enemy troops equipped with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. In the past, it was assumed that such targets would be impossible to spot (at least not fast enough to attack them) and that such missiles could be avoided by simply flying higher and using flares. But new developments in infrared sensor technology and the existing technology for GPS coordinates may change this. In theory, sensors on an orbiting drone could detect the flash of a shoulder-fired missile launch and calculate the exact position of the shooter within a few feet. Then an assigned aircraft (getting the coordinates from an automated datalink) could lob a 500 pound guided bomb to those coordinates, with the bomb landing within a minute of missile launch, perhaps even faster (assuming there are no annoying JAG lawyers in the loop who must clear a target in an inhabited area before it can be attacked).
Internet warfare ain’t just hacking, kids. Near as I can figure, that sort of instant messaging for smart bombs is based on internet technology. Maybe Sarge will have some comments on this, but the ability to detect, launch, and kill in under a minute speaks very well for the future survivability of our forces.
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