Air Force Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate

**About the Munitions Directorate (RW)** **Global leader in advancing weapons science and technology.** AFRL's Munitions Directorate (RW) is responsible for developing superior weapons technologies that are effective and affordable for our warfighter. We are committed to providing the technologies that will enable our warfighters to win in all domains, and we are actively looking at new technologies to stay ahead in a rapidly advancing tech driven world. We value our partnerships with industry, academia, and government partners, as we continue to transition important technologies to the warfighter that help build a more lethal and ready Air Force and Space Force. **BRIEF HISTORY OF RW** From the unit's inception, the research and development efforts have focused on user needs. The significance of applying leading edge technology to provide the user with the state-of-the-art weaponry makes a dramatic impact on the outcome of any given strike mission. Technology endeavors over recent years have manifested themselves in a variety of non-nuclear air armament, some of which were employed in effective "surgical" strike operations in Libya and Desert Storm. Today, the Munitions Directorate is a part of the Air Force Research Laboratory and continues to make technological breakthroughs for future air armament. The Directorate's emphasis is on the weapon's capability to operate with complete autonomy and with high accuracy when delivered against ground targets in all weather conditions, day or night, using long- or short-range delivery tactics. Air-to-air missiles benefit from this technology with increased single shot kills and larger "no-escape" zones. Additionally, advances in hard target penetrating warheads are supplying mission flexibility by providing a conventional armament capability to defeat hardened targets traditionally reserved for nuclear weapons. In summary, paramount to every AFRL/RW technology decision is the answer to the question, "What does it do for the user?"