On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 12:19:09 -0400, Peter Kemp
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Jun 2004 08:39:57 -0600, Scott Ferrin wrote:

If they ever figure out how to effectively jam GPS all of those GPS
dependant wonder weapons are going to be pretty limited.

Which may be why so much effort is going into making the upcoming
improvements to GPS and all the investment into anti-jam equipment
logical. Not forgetting of course that teh GPS weapon such as JDAM are
primarily inertial, with GPS updates, so the CEP grow, but not to
much, and even a brief period of GPS guidance to snug down the fix
gets it back on track.

Also your
targeting options are going to be substantially less than a LOAL
Maverick not to mention the lack of precision compared to a Maverick.
A JCM will not be able to take out the full spectrum of Maverick
targets anymore than an SDB will be able to handle 2000lb BLU-109
targets.

But an aircraft armed with JCM can engage far more targets more
cheaply than one armed with LOAL Maverick. And don't forget that the
command link on the LOAL Maverick (I assume it's commanded rather than
autonomous?) can also be jammed, and far more simply than jamming GPS
over a broad area.

Quite frankly there are not many battlefield targets that could
withstand a JCM, and those that could are the ones with active
defences (Like Shtora), which will find it easier to engage a larger
missile like a Maverick than a smaller JCM.

At which point you whistle up a couple of CBU-97.

Does LOAL Maverick have a role for which it is particularly suited?
Probably, but the role can be covered quite nicely by JCM plus other
systems with more flexibility and without adding another system to the
inventory.

Peter Kemp

I don't know how significant ($$$) the mod to make Maverick LOAL would
be but seeing how we already have the missiles we may as well at least
keep the newer ones. Have we ever tossed aside weapons before they we
too worn out and wished we'd kept them? I don't know. If I was told
there was a mobile SAM system cruising around in town and I had to
take it out I'd rather try it with a LOAL Maverick and stay out of
range than with a JCM and be right in it's kill zone. And if you're
thinking "HARM" that only works if the thing is emitting.