The Griffin Laser Guided Bomb (Griffin LGB) is a laser-guided bomb system made by Israel Aerospace Industries' MBT missiles division. It is an add-on kit which is used to retrofit existing Mark 82, Mark 83, and Mark 84 and other "dumb" gravity bombs, making them into laser-guided smart bombs (with the option of GPS guidance).[1] Initial development completed in 1990.[1]
The Griffin conversion kit consists of a front "seeker" section and a set of steerable tailplanes. The resulting guided munition features "trajectory shaping", which allows the bomb to fall along a variety of trajectories - from a shallow angle to a vertical top attack profile. IAI claims this gives the weapon a circular error probable of 5 metres.[2]
IAI (which is owned by the Government of Israel) has sold Griffin to the Israeli Defense Forces,[3] the Colombian Air Force,[4] and the Indian Air Force;[5] the system may also have been trialled by the South African Air Force.[1] The IDF used Griffins in 1988 to attack Palestinian targets in southern Lebanon[3] and against Hezbollah in 1996 during Operation Grapes of Wrath.[3]
Bombs using the kit have been used on A-4, F-4E, F-15, F-16, Kfir, Super Tucano, Jaguar, and Atlas Cheetah D aircraft.[1]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Griffin laser-guided bomb (LGB) system (Israel), Bombs - Precision and guided munitions". Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, Jane's Information Group. July 31, 2012. http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Air-Launched-Weapons/Griffin-laser-guided-bomb-LGB-system-Israel.html. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ↑ "Laser-Guided Bomb Kits". Israel Aerospace Industries. http://www.iai.co.il/34290-16151-en/SystemMissileandSpace_MBTMissiles_PrecisionGuidedMunitions.aspx?btl=1. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Shlomo Aloni (10 November 2009). Israeli A-4 Skyhawk Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1846034302. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xoeBjenEN9AC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=IDF+griffin+bomb&source=bl&ots=_sTimfl3l1&sig=B3uKlJF0Y5X7XLG141_oZo3pwdI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VsMiUbO3NPTJ0AXkp4Bw&ved=0CE0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=griffin&f=false. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
- ↑ "Latin America : Special Report". 20 March 2012. http://www.emagazine.flightinternational.com/1M4f6321fe9f67b012.cde/page/45. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
- ↑ Arie Egozi (July 11, 2008). "Israel to supply India with Griffin 3 bomb guidance kits". http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-to-supply-india-with-griffin-3-bomb-guidance-kits-225223/. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
External links[]
The original article can be found at Griffin LGB and the edit history here.