The JDAM's first combat use was in the 1999 Kosovo campaign, where its
utility was limited because only the B-2 stealth bomber was outfitted to
drop it. But today most fighters and bombers can drop JDAM's. As a result,
it has been the weapon of choice in Afghanistan, where more than 4,200
have been dropped, about one-third of all the munitions used in the war.
According to the Air Force, fewer than five have gone astray, all because
of human error. The best-known mistake, where a 2,000-pound bomb killed
three American Special Forces soldiers near Kandahar earlier this month,
occurred when the ground spotter gave his own coordinates to the
bombardier aboard a B-52, officials said.
The Navy launched so many JDAM's early in the conflict that it had to ask
the Air Force to replenish its supply. And since Sept. 11, Boeing has
twice been ordered to increase production.
Spotting the Enemy
Keeping Sharp Eyes Above the Battlefield
The evolution in bomb technology has paralleled improvements in the
airborne surveillance sensors used to spot and track targets. Those
sensors have operated unmolested in American-controlled Afghan skies,
allowing slow-moving planes to cast a 24- hour reconnaissance blanket
across the country.
Since Kosovo, the Pentagon has learned how to link its aircraft together,
allowing Predator drones, RC-135 Rivet Joint and U-2 reconnaissance
planes, and E-8C Joint Stars ground-radar planes to share information,
guide each other to uncovered areas, focus on specific targets and watch
the battlefield around the clock.
The greatest leap has been in surveillance drones, the Pentagon says. The
remotely controlled Predator, which in recent years had seen limited use
in the Balkans and Iraq, carries radar that can see through cloud cover
and infrared lenses that work in low light. Its video camera can transmit
live images to the command center in Saudi Arabia or directly to the
cockpit of an AC-130 gunship. Soon, it will be able to do the same for
other aircraft, the Pentagon says.
Most important, Pentagon officials said, the Predator can stay aloft for
nearly 24 hours, allowing it to fly from bases in Pakistan or Uzbekistan,
hang over Afghan target areas for about 14 hours and then return to base.
But the Predator has problems. It is slow- moving and operates at
relatively low altitudes, making it easy prey for antiaircraft fire. At
least two Predators have crashed in Iraq this year, presumably shot down,
officials said. They are also extremely vulnerable to icing, and it is not
clear whether they can operate in the brutal Afghan winter.
The Global Hawk, an experimental unmanned spy plane, is intended to
address some of those problems: it can fly above 60,000 feet, well above
anti-aircraft fire, and its longer range and greater speed enable it to
watch a much broader swath of country.
But the Global Hawk also has its limitations. Video cameras are not
effective at high altitudes, so the Global Hawk produces only still
images, albeit very high resolution images, Air Force officials said. Its
digital images also cannot be downloaded directly to other aircraft yet,
so they must first be analyzed by commanders far from the battlefield.
That has reduced the aircraft's utility in providing intelligence on
moving or changing targets.