5 Weapons Systems to Reduce Collateral Damage

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5 Weapons Systems to Reduce Collateral Damage​

In the early days of the coalition air war over Libya, finding and destroying ground vehicles was easy because they were moving through the open desert. As the campaign progressed, Muammar Gaddafi's forces nestled closer to cities—and civilian buildings—to gain protection. Tactics like these in Iraq and Afghanistan have crated a boom industry in weapons that can strike targets without causing collateral damage. Technology has come a long way, and these are five of the best weapon technologies to do it. But the fact is air strikes will always come with a price.

GBU-39B Focused Lethality Munition

Weight: 250 pounds

Status: In service


Rather than a steel casing that hurls deadly fragments several hundred feet in each direction, the FLM has a carbon-fiber casing that disintegrates into harmless dust. In addition, the explosive filler is mixed with small tungsten particles that slow down rapidly due to air friction. This creates a concentrated zone of destruction just a few meters across, with little damage outside that radius.

The FLM—one version of what's called a small diameter bomb (SDB)—was first used in Iraq in 2006. "An SDB or SDBs can take out a critical section of a building, not necessarily the entire structure," says Gary Rodenberg, the program manager for Boeing's SDB division. "For example, just the radio room or a satellite dish in a communications facility, or perhaps a military jet in a hardened hangar that was intentionally co-located in a civilian airport." The weapon's smaller size is also an advantage. "SDB offers war fighters tremendous flexibility on today's ever-changing battlefields," he says. "Each SDB carriage on an aircraft's load-out allows the pilot to quadruple the number of surgical strikes they can conduct on each sortie."

 

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CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon

Weight: 1000 pounds

Status: In service

"The starting point is reducing collateral damage, since it cannot be eliminated," according to defense analyst John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org. The best way to cut both collateral damage and friendly fire in air war is through advanced weapons systems that can contain their force within a tight radius.

The PAW is a nonexplosive weapon designed for targets where blast and heat might be dangerous, such as fuel dumps in populated areas. After release from an aircraft, the PAW disperses a cloud of 3700 penetrator rods, steel and tungsten darts ranging from 1 ounce to 1 pound in weight. This metal hail zooming at over 600 mph saturates an area less than 200 feet across; the cloud stays concentrated because the rods are simply released from a casing and not blasted outward. In Iraq, the Air Force has used PAWs to destroy antennas on top of buildings without destroying the buildings themselves. In Libya, it could be used against radar dishes and military communications; Pike says that PAWs can also be used as antipersonnel weapons

 

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M-102 Cannon


Weight: 33-pound projectile

Status: In service

Carried by the long-serving AC-130U Spectre, the radar-guided 105-mm cannon is the largest weapon mounted on an aircraft. "The guns are direct fire, which is accurate, and they have much smaller explosive load than aerial munitions," Pike says. "They are good against Libyan fielded forces that are hugging civilian buildings."

Originally intended to blow up Vietnamese supply convoys, the system has evolved into one of the most accurate fire-support weapons available. These days, the targeting has grown far more sophisticated, including a digital fire-control system and a suite of advanced sensors that track targets on the ground and also the shells themselves—if the gunners miss, it can tell exactly where the shot landed and help them adjust their aim.

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BLU-126/B Low Collateral Damage Bomb

Weight: 500 pounds

Status: In service

The Low Collateral Damage Bomb (LCDB), developed by the Navy, is a standard 500-pound MK-82 bomb but with a reduced explosive charge. Instead of almost 200 pounds of explosive, it carries just 27 pounds—the rest is replaced by ballast. According to the Navy, the LCDB can be used against parked aircraft, radar, troops and soft vehicles. And it can be used with a precision guidance system, either laser- or GPS-based.

The LCDB was first used in Iraq in 2007. In one instance it was used against insurgents transferring weapons between a sedan and a van—the U.S. struck the sedan with an LCDB, and the van with a Maverick missile. In both cases the damage was confined to the target.

 

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Switchblade

Weight: 5 pounds

Status: Prototype

Whether launched from the ground or air, the Switchblade represents a new step in precision lethality. Developed by leading drone supplier AeroVironment, it is a propeller-driven drone with a warhead and a TV camera in the nose that can target the occupants of a vehicle or even a single room. This gives what the makers call "go-around capability": Up to the last moment, the operator can abort the strike, and Switchblade can seek another target.

Already, Pike says, some airstrike targets are selected during the mission rather than planned well in advance. Munitions like the Switchblade will take this to a new level, seeking out targets and verifying them at very close range before striking with extreme precision and—in theory—minimal collateral damage.

Read more: GBU-39B Focused Lethality Munition - Weapons to Reduce Collateral Damage - Popular Mechanics