Lockheed Martin Successfully Tests New Warhead Guidance System

October 29, 2009 1:42 p.m. EST

Archbald, PA (AHN) - Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first in a series of flight tests of the paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) guidance kit. The paveway II Plus LGB uses an enhanced laser guidance package, significantly improving precision when compared to existing paveway II LGBs.

The flight test consisted of two Guided Bomb Unit-10 (GBU-10) released from a U.S. Navy Super Hornet at the Navy's China Lake, CA, test ranges with the new kits. Each of the 2,000-pound general purpose or penetrating warhead bombs had telemetry instrumentation, and followed successfully a set of pre-determined flight conditions. The operator initiated laser guidance as planned and as planned, the weapons made direct hits on the target.

"The paveway II Plus is a revolutionary performance improvement to the paveway II LGB weapon system," said Joe Serra, senior manager for Precision Guided Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The paveway II Plus provides significantly better impact accuracy without any changes to the aircraft platform or weapon employment."

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 that adds stability fins on the back of each weapon.

The firm'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. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 55,000 LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers and reported sales of $42.7 billion. The devices the firm is known for have been used successfully in Operation Iraqi Freedom and current overseas contingency operations.