AMR-June-July-2013

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tion of moving targets and can be used in
all weathers, unlike the laser seeker. The
IR guidance system, meanwhile, allows
the detection of targets with a heat signature
such as vehicles with their engines
running and concentrations of troops. As
the IR seeker is uncooled, this can be done
rapidly, as the weapon does not require
any time for the sensor to chill before it can
be used. While the bomb itself contains
several sensor types, the same is the case
for the warhead which comprises both a
shaped charge, and a combined blast and
fragmentation warhead to provide a maximum
destructive effect against personnel
as well as buildings and vehicles.
To date, the SDB-II programme covers
the manufacture of up to 17,000 weapons;
The GBU-12 Paveway-II precisionguided
munition provides accurate
guidance for the Mk.82 general
purpose bomb. The weapon uses a
nose-mounted laser and small fins
for guidance © US DoD
The JDAM family has been
progressively upgraded.
This has included the
addition of a laser seeker
to provide a choice of
guidance options realized
via the Precision Laser
Guidance Set
12,000 of which will be for the United
States Air Force and 5,000 for the US
Navy. The weapon will be deployed
onboard the Lockheed Martin F-35B/C
Lightning-II Joint Strike Fighter and
Boeing F/A-18E/F Hornet combat aircraft,
although other platforms may be
added in the future. Low rate initial production
is expected to commence by the
end of 2013. In fact, in January this year,
Raytheon announced that it had performed
a successful fit check of the GBU-
53B in the weapons bay of the F-35A, with
four weapons equipping the space alongside
a single air-to-air missile.
SPICE
While Elbit Systems of Israel has been
involved in the design and production of
Boeing’s JDAM family (see above) their
fellow Israeli defence specialists Rafael
Advanced Defense Systems has developed
the SPICE (Smart, Precise Impact
and Cost-Effective) guidance kit to augment
dumb bombs. Rafael has produced
the SPICE family in three distinct versions:
The SPICE-1000 equips 1,000lb
(454kg) weapons such as the BLU-110,
RAP-1000 and Mk.83 munitions. The
SPICE-2000 similarly equips warheads in
the 2,000lb (909kg) class such as the BLU-
109, RAP-2000 and Mk.84. Finally, the
SPICE-2000 uses the SPICE-1000 body but
adds deployable wings to provide the
weapon with a stand-off distance in the
region of 60km (32nm). The company says
that SPICE boasts a circular error probable
in the region of three metres (ten feet).
One of the features of the weapon is that it
can compare imagery gathered from its
optronic seeker with an integral database
of images to ensure that the bomb hits its
intended target. Moreover, it is possible to
designate SPICE to hit its target using a
specific attack profile so as to ensure the
maximum destructive effect against the
target. The Israeli Air Force is known to
use the SPICE family of PGMs.
Paveway
Raytheon’s highly successful Paveway
PGM family has been around since the
mid-1960s with the weapons originally
being developed by Texas Instruments.
Since then, Paveway has been progressively
modernized through several build standards
which have brought steadily increasing
capabilities to the design. Most recently,
on 30th March this year, Raytheon was
awarded a contract by the United States
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