The Continuing Utility of Dumb Munitions

We live in an era of precision-guided munitions. Time and again we are reminded of the awesome accuracy and effectiveness spawned by the advent of the micro-chip. Yet both we and our adversaries continue to find dumb munitions-those without microchips-useful. This makes financial sense. For example, in fiscal year (FY) 2000, an M107 155 mm high explosive (HE) round cost less than $200, whereas a Block IA Army tactical missile system (ATACMS) PL 38 cost about $650,000. A cruise missile could run costs up an order of magnitude more. There is a lot one can do with 3,000 rounds of 155 mm HE that one could not accomplish with a single ATACMS.

Historically, the purposes served by heavy …