French Adding GPS to Paveway-II Bombs

Rafale, Mirage 2000Dover Afghanistan(click to view full) Projects to give GPS-guided smart bombs dual-guidance capability are popular these days. Israel has developed its GPS/EO Spice bomb, the USA has Laser JDAMs, and Britain has cobbled together a Paveway II+ as an interim step while working on its own Paveway IV. The combination provides the improved accuracy and ability to hit moving targets offered by laser-guidance, with GPS available as a backup that allows the pilot to drop bombs even through weather conditions that would defeat lasers. While the Spice is entirely autonomous thanks to its use of cameras + image recognition technology as a final guidance corrective, the laser/GPS combination relies on either a targeting pod or another targeting laser source to light up its quarry for final adjustments. If weather conditions allow laser use closer to the ground, it may even be possible to receive all the benefits of dual laser/GPS guidance despite poor conditions at altitude. Now StrategyPage reports that France is will be spending $22 million to switch out the guidance units, and upgrade its U.S. made Paveway IIs to dual laser/GPS mode. In addition to the targeting benefits above, this combination offers France in particular some […]