RE: GPS military weapon gives soldiers an edge
Afghanistan is a "low intensity conflict" for the US & it's allies so the cost-benefit equation is different from a conventional war, on offense. 10 ordinary rounds may be cheaper than 1 smart round, but if 9 of those ordinary rounds blow up civilians in the houses surrounding the target, then the smart round is the difference between the mortar being useful & not useful. On defense, you can use the smart round on an attacker much closer to you than you can use an ordinary round, without danger of a friendly fire incident. That can mean the difference between life & death for a small unit surprised by a larger force at close range.
In Afghanistan, US & allied troops regularly have relatively long distance firefights. The current way of putting explosive on target is the Javelin missile. It's very effective, but it's also heavy & very expensive. The XM395 is less expensive but, more importantly, troops can leave their Javelins behind. That narrows the gap in foot speed. The good guys wear heavy body armor, the bad guys don't.
Although Hates Idiots may have served in a unit that parceled out it's mortars to platoons, the 60 mm mortar is a company level weapon in both the Army & the USMC. The 120 mm mortar is a company & battalion level weapon in Stryker battalions, a battalion level weapon in infantry & combined arms battalions, and, soon, a regimental level weapon in the USMC. British & British pattern armies have the 51 mm mortar at platoon level.
