'Smart bombs' move to center stage in US arsenal

As the US unleashes its opening salvo in Iraq, "smart" munitions, guided by lasers and satellite, are playing a lead role. Pentagon planners hope they will enable the US to hammer the Iraqi military while minimizing civilian casualties.

Such weapons are far more accurate than bombs guided by nothing more than gravity. In World War II, for example, it took 108 aircraft, on average, dropping 648 bombs to destroy a single target. By the time of the 2001 campaign in Afghanistan, 38 aircraft were able to hit 159 targets on the first night of bombing.

That difference tracks tremendous advances in accuracy - particularly over the past 10 years.

During the 1990s, the military developed a broad assortment of smart munitions that can be fired from safer distances and dropped in any weather conditions; they can also burrow deep underground before exploding, or even correct for wind speed while in flight. In addition, far more American planes were equipped to carry such weapons.

As a result, smart technology has taken on an increasingly important role in conflicts. During the Gulf War, smart bombs were only about a tenth of the munitions used - but they accounted for nearly 75 percent of the targets that were successfully hit, says Air Force historian Richard Hallion.

Eight years later, in the Kosovo campaign of 1999, 98 percent of munitions dropped by American planes during air attacks on Serbian forces were precision munitions.

US air units can now achieve the same results in three days as during the entire 44-day Desert Storm air campaign, says retired Rear Adm. Stephen Baker, who commanded air operations for the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt during Desert Storm.

In the current conflict, 70 percent of the bombs are likely to be precision-guided munitions. That figure rises to 90 percent in targeting Baghdad.

"It's an extremely significant leap in capability," says Admiral Baker, now an analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington.

Still, as the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade by US smart bombs suggests, even the best weapons are only as good as the human intelligence that guides them.

What follows is a summary of the US smart-bomb arsenal.

These made their debut during Vietnam and were employed extensively for the first time during Desert Storm, but did not prove as effective as the postattack videos suggested. Laser-guided bombs cannot be used in cloudy, dusty, or smoky conditions, since laser seekers require a clear line of sight.

Pilots must also release the bomb within 10 miles of the target, putting them at greater risk of antiaircraft fire. Still, laser-guided bombs are the most frequently used precision-guided munition, and today's version has been upgraded with better sensors and more stable tracking.

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