Guided Bomb Unit-10 (GBU-10)
Paveway II
The Guided Bomb Unit-10 (GBU-10) utilizes the
2,000-pound general purpose or penetrating warhead. The operator illuminates
a target with a laser designator and then the munition guides to a spot
of laser energy reflected from the target. The GBU-10 consists of an MK-84
2,000 pound bomb with an added laser guidance package. The GBU-1OI mates
a BLU-109B weapon with a Paveway II laser guidance kit. This improved 2,000-pound
bomb is used against targets requiring deeper penetration.
The munition was used during Operation Desert
Storm, and, according to the Air Force, hit 78 percent of its targets.
In Operation Desert Storm, GBU-10/10Is were used extensively by F-15Es
and F-111Fs mainly against bridges, Scuds, C3I (command, control, communications,
intelligence) nodes, and bunkers. Of the 2,637 expended,'44 over one- third
were dropped by F-111Fs, and the rest by F-117s, F-15Es, and Navy and Marine
Corps aircraft.
There are two generations of GBU-10 LGBs: Paveway
I with fixed wings and Paveway II with folding wings. Paveway II models
have the following improvements: detector optics and housing made of injec-
tion-molded plastic to reduce weight and cost; increased detector sensitiv-
ity; reduced thermal battery delay after release; increased maximum canard
deflection; laser coding; folding wings for carriage, and increased detector
field of view. (Paveway II's instantaneous field of view is thirty percent
greater than that of the Paveway I's field of view).
Specifications
Class 2000 lb. Paveway I & II Laser Guided
Weapons
Mission Air interdiction
Targets Mobile hard, fixed soft, fixed
hard
Service Air Force, Navy
Program status Operational
First capability 1976
Guidance method Laser (man-in-the-loop)
Control MAU-157 Series (Paveway l)
MAU-169 Series (Paveway II)
Autopilot Bang-Bang Mode
Weight (lbs.) 2562
Length (in.) 172
Diameter (in.) 15/18 (Warhead)
28 (Airfoil Group)
Warhead BLU-109 penetrator
MK 84; Blast/Fragmentation
Explosive (NEW) 535 lbs. Tritonal [BLU-109]
945 lbs. Tritonal [MK 84]
Fuze FMU-81 N/T
Range 8 nautical miles
Circular error probable 9 meters
Quantity Air Force: 10,145
Navy: 1,184
Development cost Air Force officials state
that they could not provide development cost for the munition because they
do not have records covering the development period.
Production cost Air Force: $240.436
million
Navy: $30.902 million
Total acquisition cost Not available
Acquisition unit cost Not available
Production unit cost Air Force: $23,700
Navy: $26,100
Platforms A-7, A-10, B-52, F-111, F-117,
F-15E, F- 16 , F/A-18 C/D, A-6, F-14