Air Weapons: Smaller, Safer, Cheaper
November 14, 2016: Smaller is better if you want to avoid friendly, especially civilian, casualties. An example of that trends can be seen in an October 2016 U.S. Department of Defense order for 3,200 more APKWS II (Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System) laser guided missiles with an option to buy 12,000 more. This contract makes it possible for the manufacturer (BAE) to build a new factory in the United States that can quickly expand production to more than 1,600 APKWS II a month. This order is mainly for American aircraft and helicopters also for export customers the United States supplies. This includes Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
There has always been resistance to adopting the APKWS in the American military but in 2016 the last holdout, the U.S. Air Force realized that these missiles are extremely effective when used by A-10s and F-16s operating against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in Syria and Iraq. In mid-2016 the air force arranged for an emergency shipment from U.S. Navy supplies of APKWS along with an order to the manufacturer for a supply of its own. The APKWS II has been in production since 2012 and orders keep coming in because it is smaller, cheaper and works as well as the larger and older Hellfir
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