France’s AASM Precision-Guided Bombs

AASM test from
Mirage 2000D

France’s Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) is similar in concept to the American GPS-guided JDAM bomb, but its execution includes several key differences. The global trend toward GPS-guided weapons makes a French entry important for industrial as well as operational reasons, and the Sagem/MBDA team hope AASM will earn them a market niche.

In order to become a true market success, however, Sagem and MBDA know that their AASM will have to find export markets beyond France. Will that place them in conflict with Dassault?

Influential Think Tank Warns of Robotic Proliferation

• Former Navy Undersecretary Bob Work joined the CNAS think tank last year. He’s now presenting a new report [PDF] making the case that it’s a matter of when rather than if before the emergence of a “new war-fighting regime in which guided munitions and battle networking has fully proliferated and unmanned and autonomous systems have become central to combat”.