Civilian casualties and collateral damage could be completely eliminated in the near future thanks to a line of new mini-munitions designed by leading government defense contractors.
Raytheon Missile Systems is in process of designing a 13lb Small Tactical Munition to be carried by smaller unmanned aircraft like Shadow, TigerShark, Hunter and Viking. STM uses a combination of GPS satellite and inertial navigation with semi-active laser targeting. The device is around 24 inches long and 4 inches around. This will give the drones the option to attack smaller targets like automobiles without causing damage to surrounding areas.
Northrop Grumman has come out with the Viper Strike, a gliding, GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munition which originally had a combination acoustic and IR seeker. The Viper Strike is 36 inches long and only 5.5 inches in diameter.
Lockheed Martin has released the Scorpion (21.5 inches in length, and 4.25 inches in diameter),which is adaptable to multiple launch platforms, including manned or unmanned systems. Scorpion uses a semi-active laser (SAL) seeker for man-in-the-loop terminal guidance,and can be tailored to use planned, imaging infrared (I2R), shortwave infrared (SWIR), or millimeter wave (MMW) seekers.
