CSBA: Sustaining America’s Precision Strike Advantage

A new report released today by Gunzinger & Co. Key points:

1) US losing precision strike monopoly
2) Short-range PGMs predominate in the inventory -- this works assuming either permissive environments or many more launch platforms than we're likely to get
3) Cyber, decoys, swarm attacks, and standoff PGMs, with improved tactics, can help restore the balance

http://csbaonline.org//wp-content/uploads/2015/06/2015-06-23-PGM-Report-Roll-Out-FINAL-No-Notes.pdf

That's funny how they word it, probably intentional. We're not actually "losing" anything, it's just the rest of the world is finally catching up, from a technology stand point. However, it isn't as though any of them will be able to afford any of it to the level that we can.

I'm waiting for them to update this on youtube but a quick search does not reveal any reference to directed energy..

bring_it_on said:

I'm waiting for them to update this on youtube but a quick search does not reveal any reference to directed energy..

Click to expand...

They said they'll post the video on June 26th.

A lot of this study is a re-hash of Bryan Clark's earlier study that argued that if you assume that guidance/seeker weight is constant, relatively independent of overall weapons size and/or will trend downwards due to technology scaling, trading warhead weight for increased fuel
(assuming you retrofit SBD II, JDAM and JSOW with small engines) would enable your direct attack munitions to maneuver against improving point defense systems and would improve the range of JSM/JASSM types or allow them to be accommodated into more internal weapons bays.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx3_Pr097O8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvaBfbpHqxw

The study and presentation begs the question will defensive systems get so good that the increasing cost of warfare (on the large nation state level) that it just isn't worth fighting? And this leads to thoughts on escalation and deterrence, do you spend a few hundred billion and lose precious men and material for Crimea (answer thus far a resounding no) all of Ukraine, The Baltic States, when victory is not even assured?

Are we entering an era of 'electronic' trench warfare?