Guided Bomb Unit-16 (GBU-16)

[David]

Paveway IIThe Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-16) utilizes a 1000-pound general purpose 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-16 consists of a MK-83 1,000-pound bomb modified with a common Paveway II laser guidance kit. During Desert Storm virtually all 219 GBU-16s were dropped by Navy A-6Es, which had the capability to lase the target themselves (self-designation).

FA/18 Hornet aircraft flying from USS Enterprise (CVN 65) dropped GBU-16 laser guided bombs during the waves of attacks against Iraq in support of Operation Desert Fox in December 1998.

Specifications
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)
Range	8 nautical miles
Circular error probable	9 meters
Quantity
Development cost	Air Force officials state that they could not provide development cost because they do not have records covering the development period.
Production cost
Total acquisition cost	Not available
Acquisition unit cost	Not available
Production unit cost
Platforms	A-6 A-10 F-14 F-15 F-16 F/A-18 F-111