Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103080247
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
"I think we are going to see a leap in demand around the world for more modern weapons systems, even though there is such a glut on the weapons market right now," said Gregory Fetter, senior defense analyst for the Connecticut-based defense research group, Forecast International-DMS.
Laser-guided and television-guided bombs and missiles, multiple-launch rocket systems, Maverick anti-tank missiles, attack helicopters are becoming available "to anybody with the bucks to pay for them," he said.
It would not be the first time war has stimulated trade in "smart" weaponry; the Argentine successes with French-developed Exocet missiles during the 1982 Falkland Islands war with Britain had arms merchants clambering to keep up with the sudden demand for the wave-skimming ship-killer.
The makers of "smart weapons" are not only the U.S. and NATO countries, Fetter said, adding that such nations as Brazil, Chile, China, Israel, Malaysia and Pakistan are developing their own versions.
"The war just enhanced their marketability," he said. "It showed they do work. And people - the arms buyers - saw right on their TV screens how well they work."
More sophisticated systems, such as the "JStars" battlefield surveillance and command aircraft, the Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Patriot air defense system, would be available only to carefully selected customers, he said. But having demonstrated their efficacy, "pirate" versions could reach the international market in a few years.
by CNB