Does anyone know who manufactures the "smart bombs" the US military uses more and more? I know that Boeing and Lockheed dominate cruise missiles but I don't recall who actually makes convention smart bombs dropped from aircraft.
Some info from today's WSJ:
Regardless of how the struggle plays out, some significant short-term decisions about weapons purchases already are under way. Senior officials in Mr. Rumsfeld's office have quietly begun asking defense contractors to step up production of costly precision-guided cruise missiles, which were the weapons of choice in past wars such as the Persian Gulf War and the Kosovo campaign, and which could be used in any long-distance strikes at terrorist sites. The Clinton administration used such cruise missiles once before, in 1998, when it struck out against terrorist Osama bin Laden and his camps in Afghanistan.
In the U.S., the two biggest makers of such precision-guided munitions are Raytheon Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing Co. also makes some such weapons, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, known as JDAM, that was widely used during the war in Kosovo.
For other contractors, billions of dollars also hang in the balance as the country rethinks its defense posture. Only in the last two years, for example, have U.S. military officials begun actively embracing the use of unmanned aerial vehicles -- and the rush is on in the defense industry to provide them. Northrop Grumman Corp., which also made the B-2 bomber, is in the lead, with its Global Hawk vehicle already in production. Both Northrop and Boeing are also working on pilotless vehicles that will be capable of bombing missions, though such aircraft are almost a decade away from entering service.
And nearly all major defense companies, as well as smaller players such as TRW Inc. and L-3 Communications Corp., play big roles in the command-and-communications systems that link complicated computer and sensor systems together to provide a more cohesive look at data. |
