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Lockheed bags deal to supply laser-guided bombs to IAF US defence major Lockheed Martin has bagged a deal expected to be worth over Rs. 100 crore for supplying laser-guided bombs (LGBs) for the Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet in the Indian Air Force (IAF). The IAF plans to induct more than 100 bunker-buster LGBs for its Jaguar warplanes to destroy strongly fortified enemy targets. "We have emerged as the lowest bidders in the deal for supplying LGBs to the IAF. We have offered our Paveway II LGBs for the Jaguars and contract negotiations are on in this direction," Lockheed Martin India...

The U.S. Air Force has successfully tested its new Paveway II Plus laser guided bomb. The existing Paveway II bomb has a range of 14 kilometers and will hit within less than half a meter of where the laser designator is reflecting off the target. Paveway is actually a guidance kit (costing about $20,000) that is fitted to a dumb bomb, turning it into a glide bomb that homes in on the reflected laser light. The Paveway II Plus is more accurate and reliable, but the exact figures are classified. Laser guided bombs have been in use since the 1960s....