The GBU-27 Paveway III (Guided Bomb Unit) is a laser-guided bomb with bunker buster capabilities, it is a GBU-24 Paveway III (fitted on the warhead of the BLU-109 bomb body) that has been redesigned to be used by the F-117A Nighthawk stealth ground attack aircraft. The pilots flying over Iraq during the First Gulf War nicknamed it the "Hammer",[2] for its considerable destructive power and blast radius.[2]
| GBU-27 Paveway III | |
|---|---|
 GBU-27 Paveway III | |
| Type | Laser guided bomb |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1987-present |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Texas Instruments |
| Manufacturer | Raytheon |
| Unit cost | US $ 55,600[1] |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 900 kg (2,000 lb) |
| Length | 4.2 m (14 ft) |
| Diameter | 711 mm (28.0 in) |
| Effective firing range | 19 km (12 mi) |
Combat history
editThe GBU-27 was used in Operation Desert Storm. It was the weapon used in the February 13, 1991 attack on the Amiriyah shelter, which resulted in the deaths of more than 400 Iraqi civilians. It was also used in a series of strikes on the Muthanna State Enterprise site during February 1991.[3]
During the 1999 NATO attack on FR Yugoslavia, two of these bombs were used to destroy the Avala Tower, a landmark telecommunications and observation tower near Belgrade.
During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the US Air Force dropped 98 EGBU-27s on Iraqi targets.[4]
The first foreign sale of the GBU-27 was the acquisition by Israel of 500 units equipped with BLU-109 penetrating warheads, authorized in September 2004.[5] Delivery of such precision guided weaponry was accelerated at the request of Israel in July 2006, though the exact munition were not specified. Israeli Defense Forces officials state that other precision-guided munitions have been used to attack Hezbollah facilities in the 2006 Lebanon War.[6] However, the bunker busting technology in the GBU-27 could be directed, according to Israeli military sources, at Iran or possibly Syria.[7]
As of 2011, the UK's RAF have also ordered the GBU-27 for use in Libya.[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- Notes
- ^ "Guided Bomb Unit-24 (GBU-24) Paveway III". Archived from the original on 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ a b Don, Holloway (March 1996). "STEALTH SECRETS OF THE F-117 NIGHTHAWK: Its development was kept under wraps for 14 years, but by 1991, the F-117 nighthawk had become a household word". Aviation History. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Cowles Magazines. ISSN 1076-8858.
- ^ William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense, "The Gulf War Air Campaign - Possible Chemical Warfare Agent Release at Al Muthanna, February 8, 1991 Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine", November 15, 2001.
- ^ "Royal Air Force Dropped More Than 400 Enhanced Paveway Bombs During OIF". Defense Daily. 8 July 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
- ^ Raas and Long, 2006
- ^ Cloud, David S.; Cooper, Helene (22 July 2006). "U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ Anton La Guardia (September 22, 2004). "Israel challenges Iran's nuclear ambitions". Retrieved July 28, 2019.
- ^ www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13589783 Archived 2018-01-01 at the Wayback Machine.
- Bibliography
- Whitney Raas and Austin Long, Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities, MIT Security Studies Program Working Paper, April 2006.