Posted on 11/07/2017 7:21:15 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
A Korean F-16D, some of which have been upgraded to carry precision weapons such as (inset) the Rafael Spice glide bomb. (Photos: Chris Pocock and KForce News)
The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) has performed numerous live drops of the Rafael Spice 2,000-pound guided glide bomb this year, suggesting that the weapon is fully certified on its F-16 fleet. The Israeli company does not discuss customers, but reports indicate that Seoul signed a deal with Rafael in late 2015, with deliveries due in the second half of 2016.
The weapon was seen in a quick-response exercise mounted by the ROKAF’s 19th Fighter Squadron in February this year. The unit employed both the Spice 2000 and the Boeing GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) on the Peace Bridge Upgrade (PBU) version of its Lockheed Martin F-16s. The PBUs are a group of 40 F-16C/D Block 32s that underwent an upgrade to employ JDAM, AIM-120 AMRAAM, plus installation of data modems and secure communications. This brought them up to the license-built KF-16 standards. The first F-16PBU was combat-ready in mid-2016.
“We have been doing our best to master the new armed capability with the F-16 PBU and Spice 2000,” a ROKAF pilot told Korean media. The Spice family deploys pop-out wings after launch and employs GPS/INS for midcourse navigation. When approaching the target, SPICE employs a scene-matching algorithm that Rafael claims to be unique and compares the electro-optical image received in real time via the weapon seeker with mission reference intelligence data stored in the aircraft’s weapon computer memory. The Spice 2000 gives the Korean F-16s standoff and precision capabilities of approximately 60 km on Mk 84 2,000-pound bombs.
India has acquired the longer-range Spice 250 and Spice 1000 weapons, reportedly for their Rafale and Tejas fighters.
Additional reporting by Chris Pocock
Ping.
They look real nasty and I mean that in a good way.
Impressive. Bombing accuracy gets better and better.
During WWII, bombers were used against warships extensively with little effect. A B-17 at 20,000 feet was unlikely to hit a moving target and seldom did. Ship’s captains could see when the bombs were released and steered away from them.
At the Battle of Midway, US attacks were more like suicide runs, but they tied up the Zero air cap while American SBDs were finally able to get in and paste the carriers.
Vietnam was the first use of laser aiming, where one plane would illuminate the target with a laser light and another plane dropped a laser-homing bomb. The first users of the new system were astonished at the accuracy, as were the VC operators of AA guns, surrounded in gun emplacements by walls of sand bags. The bomb came in dead center, vaporizing the entire crew/gun. One bomb, one target. It sure beat the hell out of dropping tons of bombs hoping for a hit.
Rafael Spice Glide — sounds like something you might buy in an Amsterdam sex shop.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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+1.
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