Feb 18 2010
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has successfully completed the paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) F/A-18 qualification flight test program. The paveway II Plus LGB uses an enhanced laser guidance package, significantly improving the precision of current paveway II LGBs.
The final mission of the paveway II Plus flight test program consisted of four GBU-10s released from two U.S. Navy Super Hornets at the Navy's China Lake, CA, test ranges. Each weapon included the new paveway II Plus MAU-209C/B computer control group. These four weapons, combined with two released in a prior mission, demonstrated the successful guidance characteristics and improved impact performance of the paveway II Plus weapon system.
"The performance demonstrated during this test program confirmed the precision and pinpoint accuracy of paveway II Plus," said George Kosik, paveway advanced development manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We look forward to demonstrating the same exceptional improvement in capabilities during the upcoming F-16 portion of the flight test program."
Lockheed Martin is a qualified provider of the paveway II LGB, of all three variants of the paveway II MK-80 series LGBs, and is the sole provider of the paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round and Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb.
Paveway II LGB guidance kits improve weapon accuracy and reduce risk to U.S. and allied ground forces by converting gravity weapons into precision-guided munitions. Each kit consists of a computer control group, which is the front-end guidance system, plus an air foil group which adds stability fins on the back of each weapon.
Lockheed Martin's LGB kits can be carried on U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and most international aircraft platforms currently authorized to carry and release LGBs. Kits are fully compatible and interoperable with existing paveway II LGB logistics infrastructure, equipment, procedures and aircrew operations.
Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 55,000 LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Laser-guided bombs have been used successfully in Operation Iraqi Freedom and current overseas contingency operations.