Talk:Precision-guided munition

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"...weapons intended to maximize damage to the target while THEORETICALLY minimizing collateral damage."

I think that the use of "theoretically" in this context is redundant and bordering on non-NPOV. It is redundant because it is already stated that these are "intended" traits. We could go even further and just define "precision-guided munition" as "weapons that maximize damage to the target while minimizing collateral damage", then we could discuss to what extent existing weapons fit that definition.

While I'm no expert on the topic, I think that existing weapons (laser guided bombs, for example) do fit that definition without any qualifiers (such as "intended" or "theoretically"). The important point is that they minimize collateral damage RELATIVE to the intended damage. This does not mean that they reduce overall collateral damage.

Finally, there should probably be some note about how these traits are relative to the expense or risk to the attacker. An assasins knife could be considered "precision guided" just because there is little chance of a random person being killed by such a weapon. However, the assasin needs to be highly trained and needs to take great risks to use it in such a precise way.

adam

[edit] increased damage

Someone should put in that PGM also increase the likelihood of damage being done to the object being targetted, making them more effective weapons. Stargoat 16:56, 17 Jun 2004 (UTC)

It says that twice in the first paragraph - directly in the first sentence, and by implication in the second. Securiger 06:41, 19 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] misses

I felt that this paragraph was nonsense, and removed it:

Ironically, despite the greater precision of precision-guided weapons, the failure of their guidance systems can cause greater damage than a miss from an ordinary bomb. Misses from older, unguided munitions are generally normally distributed around the aim point. Thus it can be assumed that the further you are from the target, the safer you are. On the other hand, most smart bomb misses are caused by system failures—a jammed steering fin, computer failure, loss of homing signal, etc. In this case, the weapon is actually more likely to miss the target by a very large distance, than by a small distance.

This seems like pure speculation and unless someone can cite examples or a credible source that makes a statement to this effect, this should stay out. The attempt to invoke some kind of probabilistic argument is particularly ill-advised. --Mike Lin 19:45, 6 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Too much U.S. emphasis

This article suggests that PGMs are purely an American enterprise, which is simply not true. It needs a broader perspective on non-U.S. efforts, which I'll try to add in the next week or so.

ArgentLA 21:03, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

How about adding a history section, including German Ruhrstahl SD 1400 and like? [1] Talamus 20:14, 12 May 2006 (UTC)