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17-529: The weapon is a guidance kit based on the existing Enhanced Paveway II Enhanced Computer Control Group (ECCG) added to a modified Mk 82 general-purpose bomb with increased penetration performance. The new ECCG contains a Height of Burst (HOB) sensor enabling air burst fusing options, and a SAASM (Selective Availability Anti Spoofing Module) compliant GPS receiver. It can be launched either IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) only, given sufficiently good Transfer Alignment, or using GPS guidance. Terminal laser guidance

34-713: A Royal Air Force test pilot released two inert Paveway IV laser-guided bombs from a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II during trials in the United States. This marked the first successful firing of a non-US munition during the F-35's development programme. Paveway IV is a future candidate for integration on the aircraft, and will be used operationally by both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy when

51-495: A minor redesign to allow it to meet the insensitive munitions requirements set by Congress. According to a test report conducted by the United States Navy 's Weapon Systems Explosives Safety Review Board established in the wake of the 1967 USS Forrestal fire , the cooking off time for a Mk82 is approximately 2 minutes 30 seconds . More than 4,500 GBU-12/Mk82 laser-guided bombs were dropped on Iraq during

68-488: A nominal weight of 500 lb (230 kg), it is one of the smallest bombs in current service, and one of the most common air-dropped weapons in the world. Although the Mk82's nominal weight is 500 lb (230 kg), its actual weight varies depending on its configuration, from 510 to 570 lb (230 to 260 kg). It is a streamlined steel casing containing 192 lb (87 kg) of Tritonal high explosive. The Mk82

85-532: Is available in either navigation mode. The Paveway IV entered service with the Royal Navy in 2008. The Paveway IV's first export sale was to the Royal Saudi Air Force in a deal worth approximately £150 million (US $ 247 million). The deal had been delayed for several years by the U.S. State Department which had to authorise the bomb's sale due to its use of American components. A contract

102-760: Is offered with a variety of fin kits, fuzes , and retarders for different purposes. The Mk82 is the warhead for the GBU-12 laser-guided bombs and for the GBU-38 JDAM. Currently only the General Dynamics plant in Garland, Texas and Nitro-Chem in Bydgoszcz , Poland are Department of Defense-certified to manufacture bombs for the US Armed Forces. The Mk82 is currently undergoing

119-623: The Committees on Arms Export Controls . Raytheon UK is conducting preparatory work to equip the Paveway IV with a bunker-busting warhead as part of the Selective Precision Effects At Range (Spear) Capability 1 program. The compact penetrator has the same outer mold line and mass of the regular Paveway IV and uses a discarding shroud design. A penetrating 500 lb (230 kg) Paveway IV would replace

136-584: The Persian Gulf War . France requested 1,200 Mk82s in 2010 to Société des Ateliers Mécaniques de Pont-sur-Sambre (SAMP) which builds Mk82s under license. Saudi Arabia requested 8,000 Mk82s in 2015, along with guidance kits and other weapons. In August, 2018, a Mark 82 bomb was used for Saudi Arabia's Dahyan air strike in Yemen . Munitions experts confirmed that the numbers on it identified Lockheed Martin as its maker and that this particular Mk82

153-583: The F-35 enters service with both arms. During the 2024 missile strikes in Yemen by a US-led coalition, Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons used Paveway IV bombs to strike Houthi rebels . Mark 82 bomb The Mark 82 is a 500-pound (230 kg) unguided , low- drag general-purpose bomb , part of the United States Mark 80 series . The explosive filling is usually tritonal , though other compositions have sometimes been used. With

170-712: The RAF's previous 2,000 lb (910 kg) Paveway III bunker buster. The penetrating version of the Paveway IV will enter service on the Typhoon in early 2019. Raytheon claims the new warhead has the performance of the BLU-109 penetrating bomb, despite being one-quarter of its weight. In December 2016, the Obama administration blocked a transfer of Paveway IV bombs to Saudi Arabia because of concerns about civilian casualties which officials put down to poor targeting. On 19 June 2015,

187-462: The blast and fragmentation effects of its own munitions since the aircraft and ordnance arrive at the target almost simultaneously. To address this issue, the standard Mk82 General-Purpose bomb can be fitted with a special high-drag tail fin unit. In this configuration, it is referred to as the Mk82 Snake Eye. The tail unit has four folded fins that spring open into a cruciform shape when

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204-431: The blast wave is positive. Tritonal is approximately 18% more powerful than TNT alone. The 87  kg of tritonal in a Mark 82 bomb has the potential to produce approximately 863  MJ of energy when detonated. This implies a specific energy of approximately 9 MJ/kg, compared to ~4 MJ/kg for TNT. TNT was first prepared by Julius Wilbrand in 1863. Germany began manufacturing TNT in 1891 and aluminium

221-474: The bomb is released, slowing the bomb by increasing drag, thus allowing the delivery aircraft to safely pass over the target before the bomb hits it. Tritonal Tritonal is a mixture of 80% TNT and 20% aluminium powder , used in several types of ordnance such as air-dropped bombs . The aluminium increases the total heat output and hence impulse of the TNT ;– the length of time during which

238-597: The first time. In January 2015, Eurofighter Typhoons of the Royal Saudi Air Force dropped Paveway IVs on ISIL targets in Syria. This was the first operational deployment of Paveway IV from Typhoon. Paveway IVs were also used in the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen . In 2015 for a period export licences were withheld over concern about how they might be used in Yemen, but after some assurances were made exports were resumed. The sales are being investigated by

255-691: Was a Paveway, a laser-guided bomb. Along with the heavier Mark 84 bombs, Mark 82 bombs were also supplied for the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza . In July 2024, the Biden administration resumed shipments of the 500-pound bombs to Israel, which were halted in May due to concerns about the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza . In low-level bombing, it is possible for the delivering aircraft to sustain damage from

272-519: Was first mixed with TNT in 1899 to produce an explosive compound. In 1902, the German Army began to use TNT, replacing picric acid , and in 1912, the US Army also started to use TNT. TNT production was limited by the availability of toluene which came from coal tar. Therefore, mixtures of TNT with other compounds became widespread to relieve the shortage of TNT. Modern tritonal was developed as

289-734: Was signed in December 2013 with Congressional approval given two months later, with deliveries to begin within 18 months. The Paveway IV was first used operationally by the Royal Navy during Operation Herrick in Afghanistan. It was later used operationally during Operation Ellamy in Libya, and Operation Shader in Iraq and Syria. In December 2015, the Royal Air Force began strike operations in Syria as part of Operation Shader, and deployed Paveway IV operationally from its Eurofighter Typhoons for

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