Paveway is the name given to a series of Americanlaser-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, such as Pave Penny, Pave Spike, and Pave Tack.
Paveway has been in development from 1968 and is currently produced by Raytheon. The system involves fitting of a laser guidance unit and a rear wing unit to standard "dumb" bombs. In this way air forces are able to convert their current stocks of unguided bombs into precision muntions.
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
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.
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.
Enhanced Laser Guided Bombs (ELGB) are enhanced with additional GPS guidance capability, to enable improved operational flexibility and employment under adverse weather conditions such as heavy clouds coverage, minimizing laser use (stealth) or presence of countermeasures.
The EnhancedPaveway interfaces with the aircraft avionics over the Mil-Std 1760 armament bus, and can be programmed to memorize up to eight target locations, to enable rapid retargeting during flight.
The Paveway IV is the latest generation member of the Paveway family of precision guided munitions built by Raytheon.
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