LONDON, July 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Pentagon has unveiled its weapon of choice in the warfare of the future, namely a pilot-less jet designed to withstand the rigors of combat, Times Online reported Monday, July 15.

The Pentagon will obtain a dozen of the $250 million (£160 million) X45 drone aircraft which is the first un-manned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be developed specifically to carry weapons into combat.

Despite technical problems in Afghanistan, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) have become the darling of the U.S. military and are key to the Pentagon’s strategy for a new type of warfare against unconventional enemies, the paper said.

The X45, which has a 34ft wingspan and is only 4ft in depth, has an exceptionally slim and stealthy profile. It is an improvement on the current generation of drones, at least eight of which have crashed since the war on terrorism began last year.

Only two of the sleek, Y-shaped aircraft have been built so far. Only one has flown. The other one will begin tests in the autumn, it added.

According to Times Online, defense officials said the plane will eventually be able to carry more than 3,000lb of bombs to drop on enemy radar and missile batteries. It could reach that full capacity by 2010. Analysts predict that the market for UAVs could be worth as much as $7.5 billion over the next decade.

In its first five-year plan since September 11, the Pentagon explains how it will concentrate on building pre-emptive capabilities to strike a new breed of enemy by dominating the air largely with pilot-less aircraft.

The confidential plan, which was leaked to the Los Angeles Times, confirmed America’s shift away from the Cold War strategy of being able to fight two conventional wars at the same time.

The Pentagon’s five-year plan is reviewed every year. This is the first time that it has been updated since September 11 and it reflects the U.S. administration’s thinking on how to protect America in the light of non-conventional attacks, Los Angeles Times reported.

It added that the plan also calls for nuclear-tipped “bunker-buster” bombs that could destroy a cave complex deep inside mountains, such as those in Afghanistan. In keeping with the Pentagon’s emphasis on the high-tech capabilities of the 21st century, the plan also makes protecting critical American computer networks and destroying enemy networks a “core competency”.

“The Secretary [Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld] has talked repeatedly about the need to be prepared for surprises - the unknown unknowns,” Victoria Clarke, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said when asked about the plan.

“He has talked again and again about the need to shift to greater precision in everything we do.”

The plan appears to be aimed at enhancing America’s ability to launch pre-emptive strikes against countries such as Iraq and North Korea and not big adversaries such as China or Russia, the paper added.

The new U.S. military philosophy was dubbed “push-button warfare”.

Critics said that the plan ignored the need for an American ground component and meant that the United States relied too heavily on insurgents and precision strikes to overthrow leaders such as President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, it said.

William Arkin, an independent military analyst, was skeptical about whether the plan would help the United States to defend itself.

“Even without ‘transformation’ the U.S. military is already so strong that no one is going to compete with it any time soon,” Arkin wrote in the LA Times.