Air Weapons: April 7, 2002

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Britain is running out of money to buy expensive new precision-guided weapons, and is examining weapons programs established at the end of the Cold War to see if they are still needed. Two new short-range anti-tank missiles (the Next Generation Light Anti-Armor Weapon and the Light Forces Anti-Tank Guided Weapon) are likely to see production numbers slashed (NLAW from 22,000 to 14,000 and LFATGW from 5,000 to perhaps half of that) as the British no longer expect to face massed attacks by enemy tanks. The Brimstone anti-tank weapon (a variant of Hellfire) will be cut by 25%. The money will go into the new Precision Guided Bomb program, which will be the equivalent of (or a copy of) the American JDAM.--Stephen V Cole