Laser-guided bomb/Related Articles

Parent topics

Laser designator [r]: A device that puts a distinctive, usually invisible, pattern of laser energy on an object, for purposes such as designating the target of a laser-guided bomb ^[e]
Precision-guided munition [r]: A powered or unpowered weapon that adjusts its flight path to hit a specific target, with a circular error probability in the low number of meters, often less than the radius of destruction ^[e]
Glide bomb [r]: An unpowered air-delivered weapon whose trajectory is not defined purely by gravity and air resistance, but by aerodynamic lift and steering; modern versions are guided bombs. ^[e]
Go-onto-target [r]: A guidance paradigm in which the sensor follows a potentially moving signal from the target, rather than going to a set of predefined geographic coordinates ^[e]

Azov 27N [r]: Russian family of laser-guided bomb guidance kits, comparable to PAVEWAY I or PAVEWAY II ^[e]
PAVEWAY laser guidance [r]: Four-generation series of U.S. laser-guided bomb guidance kits ^[e]
- PAVEWAY I [r]: First generation of PAVEWAY laser guidance kits for conventional bombs, consisting of a gimballed (i.e., mechanically scanned) laser seeker head, a Computer Control Group (CCG), and aerodynamic control surfaces, both "wings" to improve glide and moving control surfaces, usually on the nose, using bang-bang coarse directional control ^[e]
- PAVEWAY II [r]: Second generation of U.S. laser-guided bombs, still in partial service as it is considerably cheaper than PAVEWAY I and PAVEWAY III; improved PAVEWAY I still using bang-bang control and difficult to deliver at low altitude, but with a more sensitive seeker and substantial cost reduction engineering ^[e]
- PAVEWAY III [r]: Third generation of U.S. laser-guided bomb control, with a principal objective of enabling low-altitude drops; first with a fully programmable computer; considerably more expensive than PAVEWAY II ^[e]

GBU-8 [r]: Vietnam War-era electro-optical guided bomb, with television viewer used to lock the seeker onto the target before release, and self-guiding after release; limited success ^[e]
GBU-24 [r]: 2000-pound-class laser-guided bomb with U.S. PAVEWAY III guidance ^[e]
GBU-28 [r]: 5000 pound class hard target penetrator used in the Gulf War as a laser-guided bomb, reported as the "Bunker Buster" dropped by retired F-111 aircraft; EBGU-28 now used by F-15E Strike Eagle and B-2 Spirit ^[e]
GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb [r]: Second generation of the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, now in development, with inertial navigation supplemented with GPS for midcourse guidance, an multiple terminal guidance modes using the Common Tri-Mode Seeker (laser, imaging infrared, radar, GPS); has the ability to hit moving targets ^[e]
GBU-54 [r]: Joint Direct Attack Munition with laser guidance in addition to combined inertial guidance refined with the Global Positioning System, and uses a 500 pound bomb ^[e]
KAB-250 [r]: Russian family of 250kg guided bombs with different guidance kits ^[e]
- KAB-250L [r]: Russian 250kg laser-guided bomb using Azov 27N guidance kit ^[e]

Bang-bang control [r]: A technique of aerodynamic control of glide bombs and related weapons, in which either the control surface deflects completely or not at all; contrast with the proportional aerodynamic control used by manned aircraft and some advanced missiles ^[e]
Circular error probability [r]: The most common metric of how close to a target a weapon will strike: the radius of a circle, centered on the mean impact point, in which half the projectiles of that weapon will hit ^[e]
Common Tri-Mode Seeker [r]: (CMTS) a missile guidance subsystem that combines thermal imaging, radar and laser guidance, built by Raytheon ^[e]
Joint Direct Attack Munition [r]: An add-on guidance kit that converts a standard Mark 8x "dumb bomb", or ballistic equivalent, into a precision-guided munition, using inertial navigation enhanced with GPS satellite navigation ^[e]
M982 Excalibur [r]: Add brief definition or description
Special reconnaissance [r]: Add brief definition or description