Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12)

[David]

Paveway IIThe Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) utilizes a 500-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 munition was used during Operation Desert Storm, and, according to the Air Force, hit 88 percent of its targets. During Desert Storm the GBU-12 was dropped by F-lllFs, F-15Es, and A-6s, mostly against fixed armor. It was the F-111F tank-busting weapon of choice. Of the 4,493 GBU-12s employed, over half were dropped by the F-lllF.

There are two generations of GBU-12 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	500 lb. Paveway I & II Guided Weapon
Mission	Air interdiction
Targets	Mobile hard, fixed soft, fixed hard
Service	Air Force, Navy
Contractor	Texas Instruments
Program status	Operational
First capability	1976
Guidance	Semi-Active Laser (man-in-the-loop)
Control	MAU-157 Series (Paveway l) MAU-169 Series (Paveway II)
Autopilot	Bang-Bang Mode
Weight (lbs.)	800
Length (in.)	129
Diameter (in.)	11 (Warhead); 18 (Airfoil Group)
Warhead	MK-82 Blast/Fragmentation
Explosive	Tritonal, PBXN-109 (192 lbs.)
Fuze	FMU-81 Tail
Range	8 nautical miles
Circular error probable	9 meters
Quantity	Air Force: 29,654 Navy: 2,982
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	Air Force: $563.426 million; Navy: $56.807 million
Total acquisition cost	Not available
Acquisition unit cost	Not available
Production unit cost	Air Force: $19,000; Navy: $19,050
Platforms	A-7, A-10, B-52, F-111, F-117, F-15, F- 16, F/A-18 C/D, F-14, A-6