CRUISE missiles are about to get a whole lot scarier. Existing flying bombs are told exactly where to go. But the US Air Force is now developing a cheap cruise missile that chooses its own targets.

Once launched, the cruise missile will patrol the skies and hunt down armoured vehicles, tanks, surface-to-air missile batteries and even Scud missiles. It will even be smart enough to take evasive action when attempts are made to shoot it down.

The idea, says Ken Edwards, project director at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Eglin, Florida, is to send the low-cost autonomous attack system (LOCAAS) missiles into areas where military intelligence has little information on targets. They will be dropped in bunches of four by aircraft (see Diagram). The missiles, which are powered by a small turbojet engine, will then head to the target area and initiate a search pattern. A major ...