Standoff weapons.The Air Force plans to field a "small diameter bomb" in 2008, a weapon that will be launched from fighters and bombers. Its small size will make it a more flexible weapon for urban combat, close air support and other precision-targeting missions. It also will allow each aircraft to hit more targets on a single sortie. This is good news for the services, which are expecting to have fewer aircraft and pilots in the future. Another standoff stand·off n. 1. A tie or draw, as in a contest. 2. A situation in which one force neutralizes or counterbalances the other. 3. A standoff insulator. adj. Standoffish. weapon featured in National Defense this month is the Army's Excalibur Excalibur (ĕkskăl`ĭbər), in Arthurian legend, sword given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. At Arthur's death Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the lake; a hand rose from the water, caught the sword, and disappeared. . If the program is successful, it could be fielded in 2008, for artillery artillery, originally meant any large weaponry (including such ancient engines of war as catapults and battering rams) or war material, but later applied only to heavy firearms as opposed to small arms. units operating the Lightweight 155 mm howitzer howitzer: see artillery. . |
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