Page 30 - ADT NOV - DEC 2024 Digital Magazine | GBP

equivalent to effective strikes, Fox
program.
MBDA is intensifying its efforts
to bolster the production of
ENFORCER lightweight, high-preci-
sion missile system – ENFORCER
Production Increase Campaign
(EPIC) – has been proposed
for funding within the European
Commission’s ASAP program.
“The ASAP EPIC project is a
great opportunity to ramp up
the Enforcer missile production,
while making it more resilient and
faster,” said Eric Béranger, CEO
of MBDA. “Series production of
the Enforcer is now well under
way and the first deliveries to the
German Armed Forces will follow.
Also, an export contract has been
concluded.”
India Makes Progress
India’s Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO)
is leading the efforts of its domes- Question Marks Remain
tic defence industry to design and
manufacture its own PGMs under
the “Make in India” initiative. In
September this year, the Indian
Army showcased its new UAV
launched precision guided munition
(ULPGM) manufactured by Adani
Defence. According to reports, the
first batch of 250 ULPGMs were
handed over in the first half of the
current year. Developed in collab- Fox also questioned the belief that
oration with DRDO, the PGM has a
range of four kilometres. Work has
already commenced on the V2 and
V3 variants of the ULPGM.
30 | NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2024
Among the other programs that
the DRDO is associated with are
the Sudarshan laser-guided bomb
kit developed by Aeronautical
Development Establishment (ADE),
and the Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon
(SAAW) that was approved for
procurement by the Air Force and
Navy in 2020, and the High-Speed
Low Drag (HSLD) bomb. Gautham,
another indigenous product, is a
non-winged bomb that has a range
of 30 kilometres and is capable of
carrying pre-fragmented or pen-
etration-blast warheads. Bharat
Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and the UAE-
based defence technology group
EDGE have joined hands to pro-
duce the Al-Tariq LR long-range
PGM; the PGM, which is capable
of striking targets exceeding 120
km, is reportedly undergoing trials
on a HAL-owned fighter jet. AL
Tariq is the first UAE-based PGM
manufacturer.
Not everyone is a fan of PGMs.
Amos Fox, a retired US Army
lieutenant colonel, contended in an
essay for the Royal United Services that have been defeated by the
Institute, a British think tank, that
OGMs are not more effective than
conventional munitions in limiting
collateral damage, and in some
cases can make the damage worse. by GPS. According to reports,
precision strike strategy has actu- jamming capabilities to great effect,
ally shortened wars.
Accurate strikes by PGMs are not
wrote, adding that such strikes
often fail to achieve their objective.
“When PGMs don’t accomplish
the mission, then precision-based
warfighting requires additional
strikes and, likely, a subsequent
use of land force activities to
offset the shortcomings of preci-
sion strikes.”
Analysts expect the demand for
PGMs to cool off because of their
mixed performance in recent and
ongoing conflicts. At an event
organized by CSIS, Bill LaPlante,
the Pentagon’s acquisition chief,
said that a ground-launched version
of an air-to-ground weapon devel-
oped for Ukraine failed to hit targets
because of Russian electro-mag-
netic warfare. “When you send
something to people in the fight of
their lives that just doesn’t work,
they’ll try it three times and they’ll
just throw it aside,” he added.
LaPlante suggested that Ukraine
may no longer be interested in the
weapon. “When you send some-
thing to people in the fight of their
lives that just doesn’t work, they’ll
try it three times and they’ll just
throw it aside,” said LaPlante.
Other PGMs used by Ukraine in
the ongoing conflict have also
failed to deliver the desired results.
According to Jack Watling, an
expert at think-tank RUSI, the tar-
geting system for the GPS-guided
Excalibur round dropped from 70
percent effectiveness to 6 percent
effectiveness over a matter of a few
months as Russia confronted it with
its EW capabilities. Other munitions
imaginative use of GPS spoofers
by Russia are GMLRS missiles
and Joint Direct Attack Munitions
(JDAMs), both of which are guided
Russia has been using advanced
including some jammers that can
block GPS signals at ranges of up
to 15 miles..
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