GBU-38
Posted on 06/08/2006 10:01:16 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Of the two bombs that flattened the safe house in which terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed, the first to strike was a type the Air Force has used for 30 years.
The second was a new weapon whose first use in combat was in October 2004 against — coincidentally — a building in Iraq said by the U.S. military to be hosting a "confirmed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi terrorist meeting."
This time they got it right. An F-16C Fighting Falcon jet dropped both bombs — first a 500-pounder known as a GBU-12, guided to its target by a laser designator. It has been in use since 1976, mainly as an anti-armor weapon.
The second was a GBU-38, a relatively lightweight bomb guided to its target by satellite signal. F-16s based at Balad, just north of the area where Zarqawi's safe house was attacked, have been operating with the GBU-38 for less than two years. Its smaller explosive power is designed to limit unintended damage.
Just last month a B-1B bomber launched a GBU-38 in combat for the first time, striking a target near Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The weapon types were described to reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday by Air Force Lt. Gen. Gary North, the chief of Central Command Air Forces, based in Qatar. North has the distinction of having piloted an F-16 that shot down an Iraqi MiG-25 interceptor in December 1992 — the first shootdown in the "no fly" zones that the United States and Britain set up over northern and southern Iraq after the Persian Gulf War of 1991.
GBU-38
Good looking bombs. MK 82's, I believe.
Our guys are the BEST! Thanks for posting.
Ok I posted this before but here it is again. Here is my dilemma on the subject of al-Zarqawi. I have been trying for hours to make a comic with 72 Devils and one al-Zarqawi and the caption coming from al-Zarqawi is "What do you mean I'm the virgin?" I can't do it and I know one of you can. Make me proud.
Good looking bombs. MK 82's, I believe.
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Yup.. with a little something extra.
GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-38.htm
The GBU-38/B is a 500lb JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) manufactured by Boeing using the Mk82 bomb body. Composed of a MK-82 with the joint direct attack munitions guidance system, the GBU-38 is considered a “lightweight” compared to most of the other munitions loaded on F-16s.
As of mid-2002 the GBU-38 (500 lb. MK-82 GP) JDAM was in development and undergoing flight testing. Projects on the Heritage Hornet include Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infra-red (ATFLIR) adjacent weapons separation, FZU-61 arming lanyard flight clearance, and GBU-38 MK-82 JDAM testing. By 2005 the Air Force plans to add the GBU-38 500lb Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) to the turboprop-powered Predator B, designated MQ-9B by the US Air Force and referred to as the Hunter-Killer.
Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12)
Paveway II
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-12.htm
The Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) utilizes a Mk82 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 GBU-12 is a member of the Paveway II series of laser guided bombs (LGBs). These weapons are hybrids. At the core of each is a bomb: a 500-pound Mk 82 for the GBU-12, a 1,000-pound Mk 83 for the GBU-16 and a 2,000-pound Mk 84 for the GBU-10. A laser guidance kit is integrated with each bomb to add the requisite degree of precision. The kit consists of a computer control group at the front end of the weapon and an airfoil group at the back. When a target is illuminated by a laser — either airborne or ground-based — the guidance fins (canards) react to signals from the control group and steer the weapon to the target. Wings on the airfoil group add the lift and aerodynamic stability necessary for in-flight maneuvering.
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-111Fs, 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-111F.
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 injection-molded plastic to reduce weight and cost; increased detector sensitivity; 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).
Man, the AP is so bad it is just incredible. The GBU-38 is exactly the same size as the GBU-12. It isn't smaller at all. They both use the very same bomb body. And we've been dropping GBU-38's in combat for at least 2 years. Successfully, I might add.
Obviously, the AP just makes things up. And they no longer even try to hide it.
Too much info.
I wonder if an operator on the ground designated Zarqawi's house, instead of being lit up by the targeting aircraft?
That's what it sounds like. Special Ops on the gorund.
ground
This is truely unfortunate, as Iraq is the historical birthplace of beer.
Works of art
On the video there is a white spot moving down and to the right of the house. It's hard to tell if its a person running (thermal image?) or part of the camera system.
I don't recall the exact words, but North as I recall implied that there were no troops on the ground lighting up the target. The other F16 probably handled that?
Boooyaaa!!! Take THAT, you mooge mofo!!! See you in hell, dawg...see you in f-ing hell!!!
It's a GREAT DAY, folks, a GREAT DAY!!!
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