Modern weapons are increasingly being outfitted with datalinks and one- and two-way communications for more precise control and to provide forces with greater flexibility in how they are employed. Geoff Fein explores the US’ approach to network-enabled weapons
There is no simple agreement on what it means to network weapon systems. Some in industry and military services state it is the ability to use all available sensors to detect incoming threats and then decide which is the most suitable missile to use to counter that threat based on distance from the threat, size of available missile inventories and economics.
Others view network-enabled weapons as missiles or rockets that can be launched from one platform and then handed-off to another platform which then directs the weapon to its intended target or redirects it to a secondary target. However, others see network-enabled weapons as something akin to using the internet or cloud computing for warfare.
