You’ve Got Indirect Mail, Now With GPS!

Well, this doesn’t seem particularly fair.

Army Deploys First GPS-Guided Mortars

Finally, the U.S. army is giving this this infantry workhorse a 21st-century update, fielding GPS-guided mortar rounds for the first time.

One Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan has already received the new rounds, known as Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative cartridges (APMI), and seven more are expected to receive them in the next sixth months. The GPS-guided 120-millimeter mortar rounds will offer infantry commanders precision-strike capability, offering them an alternative to blanketing an area in indirect fire.

. . .

The APMI XM395 cartridge employs a standard 120-millimeter projectile body, but packed in the nose is a GPS receiver and controller that ensures the aerodynamic directional fins guide the shell toward the target. It also contains a multi-functional fuse that can be programmed to detonate upon impact, in the air, or after it penetrates the ground or a structure. Coordinates are dialed into the round using a computer.

See also:
US Army fields first precision-guided mortars to troops in Afghanistan
New GPS-guided mortar fires first round in Afghanistan
Army Fields GPS-Guided Mortar in Afghanistan
Army launches first GPS-guided mortars in Afghanistan
Army delivers GPS-guided mortars to soldiers in Afghanistan
GPS military weapon gives soldiers an edge
GPS Guided Mortar Debuts In Afghanistan

So, now we’ve got programmable bombs, bullets, grenades, and mortar rounds. The main thing that worries me about these systems is that they depend on batteries. If your batteries die and you don’t have spares, you’re screwed, and screwed is one thing you do not want to be in combat.

/how long will it be before we can deploy infantry robots to fight with all these precision guided armaments and we can take our human soldiers out of harm’s way?