• xkforce@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    The excuse for that during WWII was that we couldnt really guide bombs very well. That doesnt really fly when you can thread a bomb through the eye of a needle. And 10,000+ dead civilians in a matter of days isnt an acceptable price to pay even if it did.

    • chaogomu@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Here’s a point that is not at all relevant to the purposeful annihilation of Gaza, but “smart” munitions, are still far less accurate than military cheerleaders let on.

      Those “thread a needle” bombs are great when they work, but often don’t.

      I mean, 90% of the time you can still hit the right building with one, but the correct window? Maybe.

      See, the issue is, these are single use devices, built by the lowest bidder. They require high precision in their manufacture, and then need fairly good weather conditions and a well painted target. Otherwise, they miss. Usually, that miss is “Close enough”, i.e. the blast of the exploding munition will still take out the target (and maybe something nearby that you didn’t want to hit) Sometimes that target is mostly fine and a building a block over is the one you hit.

      All of this is when the intel is actually good. Usually it’s not. “Smart” bombs can only ever be as smart as the people firing them.

      The caveat here is drones. Drones have the option to linger in the air before approaching a target, so they generally only hit targets that are selected. Which then goes back to the issue of intelligence, and the stunning lack thereof in most military engagements.