A NEW NAME FOR NEW WEAPONS
"Whatsover a man thinketh in his heart so is he"
Proverbs
The U.S. Army is fielding 3 revolutionary new missiles which will change the way land combat is waged forever: the 50 pound infared-self-seeking Javelin, and the vehicle mounted fiber-optic controlled by remote control EFOGM and kinetic energy hypersonic LOSAT. All 3 of these missiles can kill aircraft, tanks, buildings and bunkers on the rapidly urbanizing, sensor swept battlefield yet they are referred to as "Anti-Tank Guided Missiles" (ATGMs) which is a mental handicap we are foisting on ourselves unnecessarily.
Therefore to maximize the appreciation of the effectiveness of these missiles we propose that they be renamed:
"Anti-air and Ground Target Missiles" or AGTMs.
This slight interchanging of the letters T and G would be easy to enact in doctrinal and technical publications within the U.S. Army and remind Leaders and the individual Soldiers operating the missiles that they are "triple threats".
If the word "Missile" were changed to "Munitions" or "weapons" it may be possible to use AGTMs as an "umbrella" term for ALL new generation precision guided weapons to include the previously mention, older Dragons, TOWs, Hellfires AND tube, rocket artillery and mortar launched guided projectiles:
"AGTMs" or "AGTWs"
Now that you know what we are asking of you, you will either be automatically in favor of it or in need of more reasons. In the following we describe each missile and how it is a triple threat to air and ground vehicles and buildings-bunkers. The primary targets of these weapons are ground ones and they should only shoot at positively identified "enemy" air targets if a "leaker" gets through the Stinger MANPADs, Avenger HMMWV Stingers, Bradley Linebacker Stingers/25mm cannon, HUMRAAM and Patriot Air Defenses of U.S. Army ADA units and USAF air supremacy fighters.
Javelin
The Javelin replaces the Dragon ATGM in U.S. Army infantry/SOF units. It is aimed by a battery-operated forward looking infared (FLIR) command launcher unit (CLU) that sees the heat signatures of men and vehicles. Once the target is within range and "locked on" by the missile's seeker head it can be launched with no firing signature shown from anywhere--to include insides of buildings and from vehicles like HMMWVs and M113A3 Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) top troop hatches. Since the 50 pound system is heavy to manpack, vehicles like all-terrain carts (ATACs), bikes (ATBs) and light wheeled-tracked motor vehicles are needed to maximize the system with multiple units of fire.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/5265/atb.htm
(X out the ad page to see the web pages)
The missile then requires nothing more from its Soldier/Paratrooper launcher as it flies on its own to strike from the top down where enemy AFV armor is the thinnest. What many do not realize is that this means if a slow flying aircraft like a helicopter is acquired by the FLIR CLU they can be shot down by the Javelin. The next feature of the Javelin is a switch for direct flight profiles in case the enemy tank is under a bridge, in a tunnel, or has an armored roof attached. This also means it can be fired at buildings and bunkers though this is an expensive practice. By changing the Javelin's designation to AGTM we remind ourselves that it can be used against mobile targets like weapons of mass destruction-carrying SCUD Surface-to-Surface Missile transporter-erector-launchers (TELs) utilizing its 2,000 meter stand-off range instead of trying to foot emplace demolition charges in the vast expanse of the desert (British SAS patrol Bravo 20 in the Gulf War).
EFOGM
The Enhanced Fiber-Optic Guided Missile is a HMMWV 4x4 wheeled vehicle launched missile which also flies in a high arching flight path like the Javelin. As the missile flies away it unreels a fiber optic cable which conveys a light beam which contains an exact picture of what is seen in the missile nose. This gives the EFOGM gunner in the HMMWV a "bird's eye view" of the missile as they fly it directly into the target like a kamikaze plane without the unfortunate pilot. Thus, when attacking a tank, even if its moving, the gunner can keep guiding the missile to the thin top part of the armor like the Hezbollah gunners have used wire guided ATGMs to strike at the exact weak spot on IDF Merkava MBTs in Lebanon. However, there is no reason why the EFOGM cannot be guided into helicopters and strike with surgical precision buildings and bunkers though as said before with the Javelin the latter is an expensive use. However with the force structure tunnel-vision in place at HQDA that refuses to enable its Light infantry Divisions to have light AFVs like the already paid-for M113A3 (weighs 22,000 pounds the same as FMTV trucks now in use by these units:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/2116/airbornem113a3.htm)
and to purchase the inexpensive M8 Armored Gun System, (Forgoing the purchase of the likely annual crash rate of 3-4 $60 million dollar FA/-18F Super Hornets buys 50 x $5 million dollar each M8 AGSs for the 2d ACR of the XVIII Airborne Corps which would last for decades of use) using expensive missiles to kill urban targets may be the only way we can avoid another replay of the Somalian firefight tragedy in a world that requires air-delivered units arriving within hours to decide the issue (Invasion of Panama) not weeks and months for heavy U.S. Army armor units to arrive by ship (Desert Storm).
EFOGM vertical missile launch cells should be designed into the air-droppable future combat system to replace the M1 Abrams 70-ton heavy tank, and until then trailers so any AFV can become an EFOGM launch unit. Details: U.S. Army Armor magazine, March-April 1998 page 20 or:
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/5265/futuretank.htm
LOSAT
The Line-Of-Sight Anti-Tank (LOSAT) system is a 4x4 heavy HMMWV that fires a hypervelocity missile that flies so fast---we are talking 5 times the speed of sound---that it requires no explosive warhead--its kinetic energy translates into tremendous heat when it slams into its target. Thus, its called a Kinetic Energy Missile (KEM) but unfortunately has the "Anti-tank" focus built into its acronym. We suggest that it be renamed the "LOSAT-HB" to mean:
"Line of Sight Anti-Tank -Helicopter/Building-bunker missile".
Or, adding the generic "AGTM" to the end of LOSAT can convey the missile's triple threat status:
"LOSAT-HB"
The extreme speed of the LOSAT KEM makes it literally "point and shoot"---once you acquire the target it flies so fast to its target it requires no course correction-guidance equipment built into the KEM itself. The KEM flies right through every target in its path and destroys them by its conversion into heat at impact, so it can be effective against buildings and bunkers, though it is a costly practice for it.
To fully utilize these revolutionary new missiles we must revolutionize their names and in the case of the Javelin provide them mobility devices (M113A3s, ATACs, ATBs) to maximize their units of fire and enable them to get into firing position first with their superior ranges, which on the future battlefield will be the difference between victory or defeat since they have a very high probability of destroying their targets after that.
Airborne!
Mike Sparks
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/5265/atac.htm
(X out the ad page to see the web page)
1st Tactical Studies Group (Airborne)
E-mail: itsg@hotmail.com
