Weapons Taking Charge

I look to the new weapons being produced today as being more important than the Cold War era platforms we once depended on for our defense. I see advanced cruise missiles and precision guided weapons (PGMs) as once day being smart enough to pilot themselves without the need of an expensive platform such as the B2 bomber and the F22 Raptor fighter. A case in point:

Lockheed Martin has developed a new way to adapt its advanced strike weapons to existing aircraft interfaces, saving time and money and, most importantly, getting important weapons into the hands of the warfighters sooner...As an example, Lockheed Martin engineers modified the operational flight program software of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) so it responds to the F-16 aircraft's existing Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) interface.
Basically, the aircraft "thinks" it is carrying and launching a JSOW from its wing. JASSM then uses the existing, proven interface from captive carriage right through the weapon launch sequence. Only minor changes to the JASSM software were required to make the integration work.

Eventually PGMs and missiles will displace the older systems, such as the fighter, tank and aircraft carrier. You can also add the littoral ship, UAVs, and light armored vehicles as the platforms of the future, far cheaper than legacy vehicles, and more relavent to today's warfare.