Low-cost smart munitions and cruise missiles, is this the future of combat?
Global military powers are shifting toward low-cost, scalable precision munitions to sustain high-intensity conflicts. India is actively developing indigenous, affordable alternatives like glide bombs and cruise missiles to reduce reliance on expensive high-end weaponry.
Why it matters
The shift toward affordable mass-produced missiles is changing modern military doctrine and defense industrial strategies.
The prolonged conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia have demonstrated the importance of both precision weapons and more importantly the ability to deploy them at scale. Precision firepower is supplanting the massed firepower of yesteryears. Today's shock and awe is not the 1,000 bomber air raids of World War-II, but the quick surgical strikes that dismantle the ability of the opposition to gather a coherent response. India demonstrated this by getting Pakistan to sue for peace after missiles struck critical air bases and radar sites. One key problem with the use of this approach is the costs associated with the use of these missiles.In a prolonged high intensity conflict, the use of such missiles could be prohibitively expensive. The Russians have been struggling with this problem, as they are well over the four-year mark of the conflict in Ukraine.
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