Science & technology | More bucks for bigger bangs

The Pentagon is hurrying to find new explosives

Most of America’s existing ones date from the second world war

An AH-64D Apache attack helicopter flies in front of a wall of fire.
Photograph: Air National Guard

America’s wars are high-tech affairs. Many of the bombs and missiles with which it has attacked the Houthis in recent days, as part of an effort to protect shipping in the Red Sea, were guided to their targets by lasers or signals from satellites.

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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “More bucks, bigger bangs”

From the January 20th 2024 edition

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