Excalibur (Episode: Smart Weapons)

Belonging to the new class of so-called "Precision Guided Extended Range Artillery Projectiles", the XM982 Excalibur artillery round is the U.S Army's newest fire-and-forget, smart munition. Excalibur projectiles combine a "hardened" GPS-assisted guidance system with stabilizer fins and rockets to strike farther and far more accurately than conventional artillery rounds.

The projectiles can carry a range of payloads, including dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, sensor fuzed munitions (seen above with "smart" bomblets deploying), and a unitary (anti-armor) warhead. With its innovative internal guidance system, the Excalibur can descend on its targets at a much higher angle, giving it the precision to hit a preselected 10-meter-wide area after a flight of over 25 miles.