Lowell's Promise

Lowell’s Promise is based on a true story that occurred in the early 1990’s. It’s a story about an Engineer working for the Navy tasked to develop a weapon system more cost effective than current weapon systems. Mr. Lowell, the Engineer in charge of the new task, took to the assignment with enthusiasm.
He decided to use a different technology for the guidance that would reduce cost and eliminate enemy ‘jamming’ the guidance commands. Current weapon systems use an on-board guidance system that is preprogrammed before launch with the target coordinates. The down side on this type of system is that the expensive on-board guidance equipment is destroyed on impact.
Mr. Lowell came up with a fiber-optic guidance system that used off-the-shelf components, TV and a box for interpreting guidance commands, a minute cost factor considering the total project cost. This alone was sufficient to meet the original demands for a cost effective system but Mr. Lowell was not satisfied. He continued to search for more ways to cut cost.
There were people that applauded Mr. Lowell’s attempt to develop a cost effective system. But unfortunately, there were also people that felt the FOG project was a threat to their future.