Paveway
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Paveway III at ILA airshow 2006 |
Paveway is the name given to a series of
laser-guided bombs. PAVE is actually an acronym standing for
Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment, and was also used for the names of various laser designator pods used with these weapons, including:
*
Pave Penny*
Pave Spike*
Pave Tack*
Pave KnifeIt has also been used for
military aircraft variants equipped with specialized
avionics, such as the
AC-130U Pave Spectre and
MH-60 Pave Hawk.
The Paveway
™ series of laser-guided bombs was developed by
Texas Instruments starting in
1964. The program was conducted on a shoestring budget, but the resultant emphasis on simplicity and economical engineering proved to be a benefit, and a major advantage over other more complex guided weapons. The first test weapon, using a
Mk 117 bomb as the warhead, took place in April
1965. Prototype weapons were sent to
Vietnam for combat testing starting in
1968.
Paveway is a kit that attaches to standard unguided bombs, consisting of a seeker unit with a thermal
battery to provide electrical power, a set of front fins to provide course correction, and a set of rear wings to allow the weapon to glide towards the target rather than free-falling. The weapon is guided by passive laser homing: the seeker detects the reflected light ("sparkle") of the designating laser, and actuates the fins to steer the bomb toward the designated point.
The original Paveway series, retroactively named
Paveway I, gave way in the early
1970s to the improved
Paveway II, which had a simplified, more reliable seeker and pop-out rear wings to improve the weapon's glide performance. Both Paveway I and Paveway II used a simple 'bang-bang' guidance system, where the seeker used large fin deflections to make course corrections, resulting in a noticeable wobble. This had relatively little effect on accuracy, but wasted energy, limiting effective range. As a consequence, most users release Paveway I and II weapons in a ballistic trajectory, activating the laser designator only late in the weapon's flight to refine the impact point.
 |
A Paveway III laser guided bomb. |
In
1976 the
USAF issued a requirement for a new generation, dubbed
Paveway III, that finally entered service in
1986. The Paveway III system used a much more sophisticated seeker with a wider field of view and proportional guidance, minimizing the energy loss of course corrections. Paveway III has a considerably longer glide range and greater accuracy than Paveway II, but it is substantially more expensive, limiting its use to high-value targets. Although Paveway III kits were developed for the smaller
Mk 82 weapons, aerodynamic instability and limited effectiveness caused the USAF to adopt the kit only for the larger 2,000 lb-class weapons (the
Mk 84 and
BLU-109. Paveway III guidance kits were also used on the
GBU-28/B penetration bomb fielded at the close of the
1991 Gulf War. The Paveway III was also used during the Indian offensive in the
Kargil War in 1999.
An advanced Paveway IV series is being developed for export, including
Britain's RAF, but it appears that the US is committed instead to the
small-diameter bomb program.
Existing Paveway kits in US service are being modified with
GPS receivers to enhance their accuracy in poor weather conditions.
The Paveway series of bombs includes:
*
GBU-10 Paveway II with a
Mk 84 2000 lb (909 kg) warhead
*
GBU-12 Paveway II with a
Mk 82 500 lb (227 kg) warhead
*
GBU-16 Paveway II with a
Mk 83 1000 lb (454 kg) warhead
*
GBU-24 Paveway III with a
Mk 84 2000 lb (909 kg) warhead
*
GBU-27 Paveway III with a
BLU-109 2000 lb (909 kg) penetration warhead
*
Paveway IV 500 lb (227 kg) warhead
Paveway
™ GPS and laser-guided bombs are produced by
Raytheon. Paveway
™ is a trademark of
Raytheon Company.
*
Laser designator*
JDAM (a GPS guidance package for a standard iron bomb, built by the Boeing corporation)
