Scheduled for delivery by 2002, the Comanche will be the most advanced helicopter in the world -- and the first to use stealth technology. View Slideshow 
WASHINGTON -- America's war against the Taliban and al-Qaida will allow U.S. forces to test newly developed weapons never used on a battlefield before. Following is a review of many of the weapons that have been introduced since the 1991 Gulf War -- and systems currently being designed that could be introduced over the next few years.
AH-64D Apache Longbow: This is the newest version of the Army's favorite combat helicopter. Manufactured by Boeing, the first deliveries were made in 1997, and 1,000 more will be manufactured over the next decade. For increased effectiveness in darkness, the Apache Longbow features infrared target sensing cameras and night vision, which it displays in an eyepiece in the pilot's helmet.
The AH-64D is reported to hit 400 percent more of its targets than the AH-64A, which it replaces. It can detect and classify more than 128 targets, prioritize the most dangerous and share the information with other aircraft and ground troops.
RAH-66 Comanche: If the conflict in Afghanistan continues through next year, expect the Comanche to make its battlefield debut. When scheduled delivery begins in early 2002, the Comanche will be the most advanced helicopter in the world -- and the first to use stealth technology.
Developed by Boeing-Sikorsky in the late 1990s, the Comanche is designed for armed reconnaissance, attack and special operations. Its slender body hides a heat-reducing exhaust system, noise suppressors and bays that conceal weapons when not in use. A sealed cockpit is designed to protect the crew from biological or chemical threats.
Hard-core gamers may want to check out this showdown between the Comanche and its Russian-built Ka-52 Hokum counterpart.
F-22 Raptor: The F-22 is important for two reasons: It replaces the Air Force's aging F-15 design, and it will be the first stealth air-to-air fighter.
Produced jointly by Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Pratt and Whitney, the Raptor can "supercruise" at Mach 1.5 and use relatively low amounts of fuel. The airframe is titanium, aluminum, composites and steel. Flight tests began at Edwards Air Force base in California in 1997, and delivery is expected in 2005.
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet: The newest addition to the Navy's line of fighters, the Super Hornet is designed to succeed the venerable F-14 and A-6. A combination fighter-bomber, the narrow-nosed plane is now flying from all of the Navy's 12 aircraft carriers.
The Super Hornet is the Navy's first fighter to do what the personal computer industry figured out in the 1970s: Use a digital "bus" architecture, so the avionics are easy to upgrade.
Critics say it's slower than its F/A-18C/D predecessor and costs taxpayers 70 percent more.
Harrier II Plus AV-8B: The Falklands war made famous the original Harrier "jumpjets," and they've been continuously improved ever since.
The latest version entered military service in 1993 and was jointly developed by the United States, Spain and Italy. Because the jet can take off vertically, U.S. Marines use it for air support in areas where traditional landings are difficult. The latest cockpit has digital radar, night vision goggles and infrared sensors to let it operate day and night.
Joint Strike Fighter: Early versions look a bit tubby -- but then again, the Joint Strike Fighter is still in the design stage. This fighter is designed to meet the needs of the Navy, Air Force and Marines, as well as the British military.
The idea is to keep costs down. As an article in the Air Force Association's magazine put it: "The Joint Strike Fighter won't set any records for speed or altitude, nor will it pioneer revolutionary new forms of air combat. It isn't meant to."
The three variants will be a carrier-based aircraft for the Navy, a conventional fighter for the Air Force and a short take-off and vertical landing version for the Marines. Boeing and Lockheed Martin are competing for the contract.
Against the Navy's initial objections -- naval aviators wanted a two-engine plane like the F-14 -- the Joint Strike Fighter will include one engine and seat only one person. It's expected to enter service in 2008.
A-10/OA-10 Thunderbolt II: Known by some of the least flattering nicknames of any military plane -- "warthog" is the most common -- the A-10 is anything but a joke on the battlefield.
According to the military's official stats: "The Thunderbolt II's 30mm GAU-8/A Gatling gun can fire 3,900 rounds a minute and can defeat an array of ground targets to include tanks.... The aircraft can survive direct hits from armor-piercing and high explosive projectiles up to 23 mm."
The A-10's weapon systems were upgraded in 1990 to include a collision-avoidance system, better computer-aided targeting and a system to stabilize the plane while the gun was firing. Additions in 1999 included GPS-based navigation and a thoroughly revamped computer system.
B-2 Spirit: Each one of these 21 stealth bombers set U.S. taxpayers back $2.1 billion. Developed in the 1980s, the B-2 entered service in 1993.
It's intended to be nearly invisible to radar thanks to a blend of reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signatures. Its surface is smooth, with no rivets or edges protruding. The flying wing's range lets it fly some 6,000 miles -- or around the world with one refueling -- and it can deliver conventional and nuclear weapons.
But at one point, maintenance woes led the Air Force to abandon plans to station B-2s overseas. Government auditors reported in 1997 that "B-2s must be kept in shelters because of their sensitivity to moisture, water and other severe climatic conditions ... low-observable materials on the aircraft were damaged each time the aircraft flew and that repair of those materials accounted for 39 percent of the 80 maintenance man-hours per flight hour experienced."
Congress' General Accounting Office concluded that America's B-2 fleet was ready to fly only 26 percent of the time.
Tactical Tomahawk: Anyone who remembers the Gulf War should recall the Tomahawk cruise missile, which the United States also launched this week against Afghanistan. It's currently being upgraded and called a "Tactical Tomahawk" scheduled to enter service in 2002 if Congress agrees.
New features include the ability to redirect the missile in flight to the GPS coordinates of any target within range.
ABL YAL-1A Attack Laser: It's hardly President Reagan's Star Wars dream or President Bush's national missile defense plan -- the Airborne Laser system is far more modest.
When attached to a modified Boeing 747-400 craft, it provides an airborne anti-missile defense system. The multi-megawatt chemical laser bounces its beam off a computer-controlled mirror and through a mobile turret in the nose of the plane. Ballistic missiles will be targeted, and -- if everything works as planned -- destroyed immediately after launch.
The Air Force, Boeing, TRW, and Lockheed Martin worked together to develop the $1.3 billion technology. Currently a 747-400 is being modified. The laser was scheduled to be installed in spring 2000. Tests are scheduled for 2003, with delivery set to begin in 2005.
RQ-1A/B Predator: About as speedy as a lowly prop-driven Cessna, the RQ-1 Predator aircraft is designed to go slow and stay aloft for a long time. (The "R" in its title means reconnaissance, and "Q" means unmanned aircraft system.)
RQ-1s each cost $25 million each and are reported to be able to hover, unmanned, over a battlefield for some 16 hours before having to land and refuel. The Air Force has successfully launched a missile from one, an important step toward making it into an attack vehicle. The RQ-1 is operated from a ground control station and equipped with a color nose cam, an infrared camera, and radar. It can capture full motion video and still radar frame images.
C-17 Globemaster III: The newest cargo aircraft in the Air Force, the C-17 made its maiden flight in 1991. Best known as a cargo and troop transport, C-17s began dropping humanitarian supplies over Afghanistan this week.
(The military rations, in case you're interested, are heavy on beans, barley and lentils. The shelf life is 36 months, and, as the Pentagon delicately puts it: "The entrees generally are more desirable when heated.")
The C-17 is 174 feet long, with a wingspan of 169 feet and a payload of 170,900 pounds. It has a range of 2,400 miles and can airdrop 102 paratroopers -- or enough food for about 19,000 hungry people.
V/MV-22 Osprey: One of the most problem-plagued military projects in recent memory, this hybrid aircraft can take off and land like a helicopter, but once in the air its engines rotate and it becomes a turboprop airplane.
After a series of four deadly Osprey crashes -- and the discovery that a Marines Corps officer had falsified maintenance records -- the Pentagon put the program on hold. After the controversy died down, a blue-ribbon Pentagon panel allowed the program to continue (PDF).
Even with these problems, the military still seems in love with the Osprey. The Marines say: "The MV-22 is the highest priority for Marine Corps aviation.... The V-22 will fly twice as fast, several times further and with a heavier payload than the helicopters it replaces."
The plan is for the Osprey eventually to be used by all branches of the military.
Sea Shadow: Think stealth destroyer. The U.S. Navy approved development of the Sea Shadow in the mid-1980s, nixed it in 1994 and resuscitated it in 1999. The program hopes to test new technologies, such as "artificial intelligence" ship control and combat systems, automatic piloting and new hull designs nearly invisible to radar.
It's being developed by ARPA, the Navy and Lockheed Martin. In 1996, Britain's Vosper Thornycroft showed off a similar design called the Sea Wraith, a frigate that masks its presence with a radar-absorbing composite superstructure, a deflecting angled design and -- think dry ice -- an artificial cloud of mist.
Javelin: U.S. troops fighting in cities will be glad to have this portable, shoulder-fired, anti-tank missile. Introduced in 1996, the Javelin can be unholstered and fired in half a minute and reloaded in less than 20 seconds. This infrared-guided missile has a range of 2,500 meters, and can take out helicopters, vehicles and ground installations.
M1A2 Abrams Tank System Enhancement Package: The latest tech addition to the Army's rugged M1 tank series, this upgrade will be in service by 2004. The System Enhancement Package includes beefier processors, high-resolution flat screen displays and -- just like a Handspring Visor -- expansion possibilities. It also adds infrared vision and thermal imaging to the gunner's sight.
M6 Bradley Linebacker: Introduced in 1997, this Boeing-manufactured accessory adds Stinger missiles to the Bradley fighting vehicle. Benefit: Short-range air defense against planes, helicopters and, theoretically, cruise missiles. A digital compass and gyro-stabilized turret lets the system lock on to targets while moving at speeds up to 40 kilometers per hour.
Vehicle-Mount Active Denial System: It's still a prototype, but when finished, VMADS will send a narrow beam of electromagnetic energy toward a person or a small group of people. The idea is to cause extreme pain -- but no permanent damage. (Think crowd control, not assaults on Afghan mountain bunkers.)
The current model is mounted on a Humvee, but look for future versions on ships and aircraft. VMADS was announced in March 2001 and was created by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Department of Defense's Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate. Testing is still taking place, but VMADS could be field-ready by 2009.
Line-of-Sight Anti-Tank: You won't find any explosives in this anti-tank missile, just a whole lot of speed. The Army calls it a "kinetic energy missile," meaning the LOSAT barrels toward its target at a velocity of 5,000 feet per second. (High school physics informs that the amount of energy delivered by a projectile is mass times velocity squared. Translation: Look out, Taliban.)
The LOSAT is still in development, and production is planned to begin in 2002 with continued testing through 2003. It's designed to be mounted onto a Humvee and has a range of 5 kilometers.
Enhanced Fiber Optic Guided Missile: Mounted onto the back of a Humvee, this late-1990s technology uses infrared cameras and GPS mounted on the missiles as guidance for the gunner. The EFOGM's launcher assembly contains eight ready-to-fire missiles. With a range of 15 kilometers, the EFOGM is designed to destroy tanks, helicopters -- or whatever else the missiles are aimed at.
Benjamin Polen contributed to this report
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Why Liberty Suffers in Wartime
Why Liberty Suffers in Wartime
