JDAM's replacing artillery in some situations

Strategy Page:

The campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to redefine the use of airpower. Since World War II, the air force increasingly emphasized their ability to hit targets farther in the enemy rear, thus crippling the ability of the enemy ground and air forces to continue fighting. But the recent introduction of better, and cheaper, smart bombs and sensors, has changed the way air power is being used. The ability to drop bombs with greater accuracy, in any weather, has made it safer for both the bomber and friendly troops. The GPS JDAM or, in clear weather, laser guided bombs, keep the bombers out of range of ground fire, and put the bombs down with greater accuracy, more of the time, than ever before. After sixty years of fearing your own bombers, because of the pre-GPS rate at which less accurate bombs hit the good guys, troops are enthusiastically calling in air power more and more. It’s gotten to the point where artillery units are complaining that the air force is putting them out of work. That’s exactly what has happened, with many artillery units being converted to infantry.

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Airpower is most potent when there are ground troops to fix the enemy. Ground troops force the enemy to be at places they probably would not be at if US troops were not therefirst. At the battle of Khe Sanh in Vietnam the communist forces were destroyed by US air power while the communist threatened the base. In Vietnam the enemy adopted a tactic of hugging the US forces in order to avoid an airstrike. With the JDAM's that tactic will not work.

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