GBU-58 Paveway

The Laser Guided Bombs (LGB) were introduced in 1968 to meet the requirements for precision guided bombs of the US military. The semi-active LGBs home on reflected laser beam energy directed on the target. The target illumination can be done by the launching aircraft, by a third aircraft or by ground-based troops operating a laser designator. The LGBs are in fact a laser guidance kit applicable to current conventional unguided bombs. United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) was the first operator to drop Paveway II bombs in combat during the conflict of the Falklands in 1982. The Laser Guided Bombs have reduced the number of weapons requested to destroy a single target while enhancing accuracy, reliability and cost-effectiveness in strike missions. The LGBs were introduced during Vietnam and afterward they have been employed over Panama, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan. The United States and 42 nations worldwide have ordered Paveway bombs to integrate on more than 17 aircraft types with more than 350,000 kits produced and delivered so far. The GBU-58 Paveway is a 250-pound laser-guided bomb intended for light attack aircraft such as Hawker-Beechcraft AT-6 used for counter-insurgency operations. The smaller warhead provides reduced collateral damage. The GBU-58 was deployed in combat in 2011 during NATO air strikes over Libya carried out by the French Navy's Super Etendard aircraft. Besides, the weapon was also integrated on the Mirage III fighter aircraft.

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