March 1, 2012:
Israel has developed a new lightweight missile. The Whip Shot is a 15 kg (33 pound) missile with a six kg (14 pound) warhead and a range of five kilometers. Using GPS or laser guidance Whip Shot is intended for use on light strike aircraft (prop driven trainers, for example) or UAVs.
Whip Shot is competition for the older American Griffin, which weighs 20.5 kg (45 pounds) and has a 5.9 kg (13 pound) warhead. Griffin has greater range (15 kilometers) because of pop-out wings that allow it to glide after launch. Griffin uses laser, GPS, and inertial guidance.
Weapons like Whip Shot and Griffin are ideal for urban combat in areas with a lot of civilians. The Israelis face this in Gaza, while the U.S. still confronts this sort of thing with Islamic terrorists who like to hide out among civilians.
