By Will Sturgeon, 12 June 2003 12:38
NEWS The British military have announced plans to start using bombs which employ the very latest in global positioning system (GPS) technology. GPS is at the driving force of many new mobile services for consumers but the military are also planning to use it for picking out targets for air strikes in low visibility conditions - such as night time, bad weather or low lying cloud. In a statement, Defence Minister Lord Bach said: "Recent conflicts in the Gulf and the Balkans have underlined the vital need for our armed forces to have a precision air attack capability that can be used day or night, whatever the weather. The Precision Guided Bomb utilises the latest technology to deliver that enhanced capability, allowing our front line forces to hit their targets hard while minimising the risk of collateral damage." The PGB will equip a wide variety of aircraft, including the Tornado GR4, Harrier GR9 and Typhoon. The GPS guidance technology will be made by Raytheon Systems and the overall programme will cost £300m.
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