Dial-A-Blast For Smart Bombs: AFRL Weapons Adjust Yield To Target
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on September 21, 2018 at 3:30 PM
The standard Mark 82 bomb dates back to the Vietnam War, but the military was able to kludge together ways to reduce its blast for precision strikes. Now the Air Force Research Laboratory is developing a new generation of “dialable effects munitions.â€
AFA: The Air Force is developing smart bombs that detonate differently depending on the target. These “Dialable Effects Munitions†could turn up the blast to devastate an enemy camp or turn it down to kill a single terrorist without hurting nearby civilians.
In the extreme case, said Col. Garry Haase, the director of munitions at the Air Force Research Laboratory, you want to be able to turn the explosive off completely and just slam the now-inert warhead like a bullet into one person at a crowded table, sparing the people sitting on either side. But the next time, you could use the same weapon at full blast to bring down the building.
https://breakingdefense.com/2018/09/dial-a-blast-for-smart-bombs-afrl-weapons-adjust-yield-to-target/
