sasquatch2
CKA Super Elite
Posts: 5737
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:59 am
The main reason for the expense is the technology....GPS is a relatively cheap, precision system but the problem is to design it for the tremendous stresses involved in firing it out to maximum range.
Free fall bombs do not have those stresses. A GPS guided bomb is a conventional "dumb bomb" with a seeker head and servo-directed control fins. Compared to most guided weapons it is dirt cheap.
I recall the "cooperhead" round which tube fired would home on laser designated targets. It lacked the range of conventional shell---partially due to weight but mostly because it could not survive the extra stress of a full charge launch. In 1980 prices the copperhead was quoted at $100,000+. But it allowed a 155 to pick off a $1 million+ tank at 10 miles.
The Excalibur shell is a relatively cheap method to neutralize a high value target or target one building in an occupied village. Then there is the bonus of catching the target exposed....most casualties from artillery occur in the first 30 seconds or less.
is the objection the cost or the increased effectiveness against an enemy who choses to embed themselve in occupied villages. IOW whose side are the critics on.
I doubt these rounds will be used on area targets.