'Smart' airdrops may save lives of U.S. troops

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2007 | by Tom Vanden Brook

FORT DIX, N.J. -- The Air Force and Army have begun to use technology that guides so-called smart bombs to target parachute-dropped cargo to resupply troops in remote, hazardous locations. The smart chutes, still in the development stage, have been rushed into use in Afghanistan, where fighting between U.S.

and allied forces and the Taliban insurgents has surged in the past several months. U.S. forces are dropping more and more supplies to troops in Afghanistan, according to statistics kept by U.S. Central Command, which coordinates military activities there. In December, U.S. air units dropped 357,000 pounds of supplies, compared with 87,600 pounds in December 2005. "We've revolutionized the way we supply the war fighter," says Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gray, commander of...