A couple of months ago I linked to a post by Michael Goldfarb about Excalibur asking if we really need that kind of precision system when we have JDAMS and other aircraft-launched, precision munitions. I remember a comment on a soldier's website that basically said 'You don't want to trust the flyboys and have them not come through for you.'In that vein, I was really interested to see Michael Fabey's article in today's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report: Army colonel says enemies see GMLRS as 'hand of Allah'.
U.S. Army commanders and troops have come to view the Army's Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) as their "70-kilometer sniper rifle," but enemy forces in Iraq see the weapon in a starker light. "The enemy is calling it the 'Hand of Allah,'" said Col. David Rice, Army program manager - Precision Fires Rockets & Missile Systems.
For enemy forces, the rockets seemingly come from nowhere, Rice said Aug. 1 during a press briefing on the program.
And one more excerpt:
With their vertical trajectory, ability to cover 70 kilometers (43 miles) in 82 seconds and close-combat precision, GMLRS rockets are becoming the rockets of choice, even when other more traditional missiles or other bombs are available.
Army officials say many requests for the rockets to be used instead of aircraft-launched missiles are coming from the Air Force.
Of the estimated 273 missions in which GMLRS rockets have been used in theater, about 83 percent were accomplished in urban environments and 69 percent were done with troops in close proximity, Rice said. Not that GMLRS is Excalibur. My point is the Army seems to have at least one very effective precision munition of its own.