Raytheon and the French Air Force completed a demonstration of a penetrator variant of a Paveway GBU-50 from a Mirage 2000D multirole fighter jet. The weapon met all flight objectives and scored a direct hit against a reinforced concrete slab.
“Raytheon is committed to delivering GBU-50’s unique capabilities to our French customer, ” said Mike Jarrett, vice president of Air Warfare Systems. “Raytheon offers a proven, cost effective dual mode solution that is fully compatible with the MK-84 and BLU-109.”
Each Enhanced Paveway II guidance and control section is compatible with warheads ranging from the 250 pound MK-81 to the 2,000 pound MK-84 and BLU-109. Offering a range of smart fuze settings from air burst to post impact, along with selectable terminal impact angles and angle of attack control, the GBU-50 takes the capabilities of both the MK-84 and BLU-109 to a new level.
The Paveway bomb kit affordably transforms “dumb” bombs into cutting edge precision-guided munitions. The all-weather GBU-50, with its GPS/precision terminal laser guidance is in production with more than 200 units delivered to date.
