{"id":38150,"date":"2019-04-10T19:22:38","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T19:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/04\/10\/the-uk-wants-its-bombs-to-live-longer-and-it-thinks-data-can-help\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:00:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:00:58","slug":"the-uk-wants-its-bombs-to-live-longer-and-it-thinks-data-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/04\/10\/the-uk-wants-its-bombs-to-live-longer-and-it-thinks-data-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"The UK wants its bombs to live longer, and it thinks data can help"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=5ec5894f-e5c6-4a55-8695-9f1abe348132\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Paveway IV is an advanced, highly accurate, state-of-the-art precision-guided bomb set to become the backbone of the British Royal Air Force&#8217;s air-to-surface bombing capability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The United Kingdom is looking to dive deep into data to figure out if it can \u201ceek out\u201d extra life on some of its most vital munitions, a top general tells Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gen. Gordon Messenger, the U.K.\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/space-symposium\/2019\/04\/05\/what-does-britain-have-in-the-works-for-its-upcoming-space-strategy\" target=\"_blank\">vice chief of the Defence Staff<\/a>, said in a recent interview that he believes the missiles and bombs currently in stockpile might have a longer shelf life than current standards dictate, and that the Ministry of Defence is working on new ways to use that information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the things that we\u2019re seeking to improve is our ability to understand what the life of a missile looks and feels like in terms of capturing the data of the environmental conditions and the usage of those missiles because that allows you to make risk-based judgments on how long they can safely operate,\u201d Messenger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAnd I think getting more data from, you know, in some cases almost missile by missile, to understand what the sort of \u2018life journey\u2019 of that missile is. It is that sort of data that gives you the ability to make proper judgments as to the continued safe usage of that missile system,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2018\/05\/22\/the-us-is-running-out-of-bombs-and-it-may-soon-struggle-to-make-more\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Amraam_2.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The US is running out of bombs \u2014 and it may soon struggle to make more<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">America&#039;s best weapons now rely on parts from an increasingly shrinking industrial base \u2014 and in some cases, is totally reliant on Chinese-made materials.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concept of using data is, in theory, a straightforward one. Right now, the U.K. bases the life of its weapons on standards developed by the government, with certain built-in safety assumptions about how many times a weapon can be loaded on and off a plane, how long one can stay in stockpile, and at what point the internal components start to break down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But those assumptions may not be correct, and with new data-processing and -gathering capabilities, the MoD believes it can challenge some of those assumptions to better judge the so-called life journey of a weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think it\u2019s going to allow us to make better judgments than not having that data because if you don\u2019t have that data, then you tend to have to err on the side of caution because safety is paramount,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, such data can be easier to obtain in theory than in reality. During its recent first-ever audit, the U.S. Defense Department discovered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/interviews\/2019\/02\/08\/pentagon-acting-cmo-lisa-hershman-on-saving-billions-of-dollars-for-the-department\/\" target=\"_blank\">major issues<\/a> with internal tracking of equipment. In some cases, the situation was better than expected \u2014 the Pentagon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2018\/11\/15\/heres-what-the-pentagons-first-ever-audit-found\/\" target=\"_blank\">found a cache of missile motors<\/a> it didn\u2019t know it had stored in one base \u2014 but if tracking data isn\u2019t trustworthy, it raises questions about how reliable it can be when making decisions about the life expectancy of weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue of weapons stockpiles for the U.K. has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2017\/04\/13\/paveway-iv-leads-uk-investment-in-munitions-replenishment-for-anti-isis-fight\/\" target=_blank>ongoing for several years<\/a>. In 2017, the U.S. agreed to sell the U.K. 1,000 Hellfire missiles out of its own domestic stockpile, a sign taken by analysts that the MoD was in desperate need of the weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And during the December release of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/global\/europe\/2018\/12\/18\/britain-eyes-a-more-lethal-force-in-newly-revealed-defense-modernization-review\/\" target=_blank>Modernising Defence Programme<\/a> document, the MoD highlighted the need to strengthen weapons stockpiles, with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson saying: \u201cTo improve the combat effectiveness of our forces, we will re-prioritize the current defense program to increase weapon stockpiles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/federal-budget\/2019\/03\/12\/despite-push-for-future-tech-munitions-remain-major-wedge-in-budget\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"205\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_0210220166.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Despite push for future tech, munitions remain major wedge in budget<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The U.S. is preparing to bolster its munitions stash.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But money and data won\u2019t entirely solve the inventory problem. Part of the challenge is simply the reality that industry can only produce so many weapons \u2014 a problem the U.S. is currently experiencing. In the Pentagon\u2019s fiscal 2020 budget, for example, five key weapons \u2014 the JDAM, Hellfire, SDB-1, SDB-2 and JASSM \u2014 are to be procured at quantities that max out industry\u2019s ability to produce them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere are some missile stockpiles that are in relatively good health. There are some that are too low for comfort and that we are looking to either eek out the life of those missile systems or procure more,\u201d Messenger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Messenger declined to identify specific stockpiles that cause him concern. Both the Paveway IV (produced by American firm Raytheon and a coalition of smaller British companies) and the Brimstone (produced by European consortium MBDA) have been used extensively in the fight against the Islamic State group. Other versions of the Paveway, along with GBU-12 guided bombs and the Storm Shadow cruise missile, have been featured in that operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Can big data make a bomb live longer? The U.K. wants to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":81750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"9":{"categories":["it-networks","daily-brief","newsletters","home"],"primary_category":"it-networks"}}},"categories":[160,46,11,36],"tags":[8643],"coauthors":[3378],"class_list":["post-38150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-newsletters","tag-united-kingdom"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"LVFE3D4HGNGGLLLHEMJH5NYYKQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2019\/04\/10\/the-uk-wants-its-bombs-to-live-longer-and-it-thinks-data-can-help\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The UK wants its bombs to live longer, and it thinks data can help - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can big data make a bomb live longer? 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