India Buys GPS-Guided “Cans of Whup-Ass”

CBU-97 & BLU-108s

Going after a vehicle such as a surface to air missile launcher, or a cluster of vehicles like a formation of enemy tanks, can be a tricky business for a fast jet pilot. Vehicles hide, they shut off their radars, or there are just too many of them to effectively target and destroy en masse. Weapons like ATK’s AGM-88E AARGM and MBDA’s Brimstone missile can help, but there’s another solution. Textron’s Sensor-Fuzed Weapon (SFW) bomb scatters 40 projectiles to cover 30 acres. The “skeet” projectiles, which look like tuna cans, will search for targets as they descend, then fire the explosive-formed equivalent of a cannon shell through the target’s weak top armor. If no targets are found, 3 safety modes ensure that the area is safe for troops to move through within several minutes – which means it’s also safe for civilians years later.

On Sept 30/08, the US DSCA conveyed India’s formal request for a variant of the SFW with GPS guidance… and now we know which IAF aircraft will carry them.

More Tit for Tate Between Russia, Ukraine, West

• Reuters: Russia targets space station project in retaliation for U.S. sanctions.

• The Kremlin has made hay of Ukraine’s reliance on Russia’s defense industry, but that dependence is reciprocal.

• The US State Department and NATO are saying that, like last months, satellite imagery does not back up Vladimir Putin’s claims that Russian troops have been withdrawn from the Ukrainian border.