8 July 2024

Is the precision revolution in warfare fading away?

MARK CANCIAN

Precision munitions have given the United States a decisive combat edge for 50 years. From Desert Storm to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, “one bomb, one kill” has become the expectation. As the United States passed this capability to Ukraine for its struggle with Russia, HIMARS with GMLRS, Excalibur 155 mm artillery shells, Ground-Launched Small-Diameter Bombs, and JDAMs have had an immense impact on the battlefield.

Yet, Russia has used electronic warfare, decoys, deception, and dispersion to render some useless. And that raises a potentially destabilizing question for the US military: What if precision location and guidance are losing their battlefield dominance in the face of countermeasures? If so, the United States will need to change its concepts of operations and acquisition strategies to hedge against the possibility of operations with diminished location capabilities.

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