Armorers loading GBU-16's onto aircraft for transport
|
|
| Primary Function: | 1,000lb (454 kg) unpowered guided weapon |
| Length: | 12 ft (3. 7m) |
| Diameter: | 14. 7in (360mm) |
| Range: | More than 8 nm (14. 8km) |
The GBU-16 Paveway II is an American Paveway-series laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 83 general-purpose bomb, but with laser seeker and wings for guidance. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Paveway is a trademark of Raytheon Company which identifies its variants of Laser Guided Bombs (LGB A laser-guided bomb (LGB is a Precision-guided munition (PGM that uses semi-active Laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a free-fall The Mark 83 is part of the Mark 80 series of low- drag General-purpose bombs in United States service A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped Bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage penetration and fragmentation in explosive effect Laser guidance is a technique of guiding a missile or other projectile or vehicle to a target by means of a laser beam It was introduced into service around 1976. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1976: Events January January 1 - Middle East Airlines Flight 438 It is used by USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps, and various NATO air forces. The North Atlantic Treaty It uses a 1,000 pound general purpose warhead. The bomb in the GBU-16 Pavewawy II is a 1,000 pound Mk 83 bomb.
GBU-16 bombs (along with the balance of the PAVEWAY series) are produced by defence giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. Lockheed Martin ( is a large multinational Aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology Company formed in 1995 by the merger of Raytheon Company ( is a major American Defense contractor and industrial corporation with core Manufacturing concentrations in Defense systems Raytheon began production after purchasing the product line from Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments ( better known in the electronics industry (and popularly as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, USA Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract to compete with Raytheon when there was a break in production caused by transferring manufacturing out of Texas.
Raytheon production of the GBU-16 is centered in Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. Lockheed Martin production is centered in Pennsylvania.
Laser Guided Bombs are often labeled as "smart bombs", despite requiring external input in the form of laser designation of the intended target. According to Raytheon's fact sheet for the PAVEWAY 2, 99 deliveries of guided munitions will yield a circular error probable(CEP) of only 3. In the Military science of Ballistics, circular error probable (CEP or circular error probability is an intuitive measure of a weapon system's accuracy 6 feet, vice a CEP of 310 feet for 99 unguided bombs dropped under similar conditions.
External links
- Raytheon's official Paveway fact page
- Globalsecurity.org Paveway fact page
- Lockheed Martin Paveway fact page