The Arizona Daily Star February 18, 2009
Raytheon's 'smart' bombs help cut civilian deaths
By Enric Volante
Some of the latest "smart" bomb technology from Tucson helped British pilots avoid hitting civilians as they unleashed explosives in Afghanistan this winter, a military commander said Tuesday.
Members of a Royal Navy Harrier GR-9 jet wing are in Tucson for training at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
In December, they were the first to use the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb developed by Raytheon Systems Ltd., a United Kingdom subsidiary of Raytheon Co., and Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems.
The Paveway system consists of nose sensor and tailfin kits that are fitted to otherwise unguided bombs to add laser and satellite guidance. The Paveway IV is made for 500-pound class bombs, while other versions are fitted onto larger munitions, according to Raytheon.
Cmdr. Kevin Seymour, commanding officer of the Naval Strike Wing, told reporters that the precision and flexibility of the weapon proved "extremely successful" at keeping collateral damage to a minimum while providing close air support for troops.
He said U.K. dropped 12 of the bombs on a range of targets with no failures of the weapon or its guidance system.
"There were numerous occasions where with Paveway IV we were actually targeting compounds where Taliban were known to be, where we could physically see them," he recalled.
In two of those cases "as the weapon was in flight women and children were seen around the compounds" and Harrier crews redirected the bombs to explode harmlessly away from the compounds.
The U.K. Harriers — often called "jump jets" because of their ability to take off and land vertically — were one of the few types of aircraft that could drop bombs with precision despite clouds by switching from laser-guidance to GPS coordinates.
That "gave us a significant advantage," Seymour said.
Raytheon officials said the Paveway IV program has generated about $70 million in revenues for the Tucson-based company. Workers here perform support and design work on the weapon guidance and electronics, as well as final assembly of the guidance kit, which is now being installed on other U.K. aircraft.
John Pike, a military analyst and director of GlobalSecurity.org, said damage outside the target area remains significant even with today's laser-guided bombs, but the Paveway IV dual guidance system is a major step.
"It's a major improvement because of the flexibility that it gives your air support," he said. "They don't have to turn around because they have the wrong bomb."
He said the United States, which has long purchased earlier versions of the Paveway, is likely to join the U.K. in using the latest Paveway system.
© Copyright 2009, The Arizona Daily Star
