PGM
Precision-Guided Munition
Precision-Guided Munition is any weapon that uses a guidance system to steer itself to a specific target, achieving dramatically greater accuracy than unguided weapons.
Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) encompass all weapons that use guidance systems, laser, GPS, infrared, radar, or electro-optical, to achieve a high probability of striking a specific target. The category includes guided bombs like JDAM and Paveway, cruise missiles like Tomahawk and JASSM, anti-tank missiles like Javelin, and precision artillery rounds like Excalibur. What unites them is the principle of one weapon per target, replacing the massive expenditure of unguided munitions previously needed to ensure a hit.
The precision revolution began in earnest during the Vietnam War with the Paveway laser-guided bomb and accelerated through the Gulf War, where PGMs accounted for only 7% of munitions dropped but destroyed roughly 80% of the targets hit. By the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, precision-guided munitions constituted the majority of weapons employed, fundamentally changing the economics and ethics of air warfare.
PGMs have transformed military strategy by enabling small forces to achieve effects that previously required massive bombardment. A single aircraft carrying GPS-guided bombs can now destroy multiple separate targets in a single sortie with minimal collateral damage. This precision has raised public and political expectations about limiting civilian casualties, making the use of unguided weapons in populated areas increasingly unacceptable.
Related Terms
JDAM(Joint Direct Attack Munition)
Joint Direct Attack Munition is a low-cost guidance kit that converts unguided gravity bombs into precision-guided weapons using GPS and inertial navigation.
CEP(Circular Error Probable)
Circular Error Probable is a measure of a weapon's accuracy, defined as the radius of a circle centered on the target within which 50% of strikes are expected to land.
Guided Bomb
A conventional bomb fitted with a guidance system, laser, GPS, or electro-optical, that steers it to a specific aim point, dramatically increasing accuracy over unguided free-fall bombs.
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