The U.K.'s Royal Air Force completed capability demonstration trials of Raytheon company's Paveway IV. The trials showed the full range of operational capabilities of the RAF's next-generation general purpose air-to-ground weapon system.
The Paveway IV Weapon System is a low-cost, day-night, all-weather, general purpose precision-bombing capability.
Compared with standard 500-pound class weapons, the enhanced capabilities of Paveway IV include: insensitive munition warhead with increased penetration; cockpit selectable terminal fuzing with air burst and post impact delay; highly reliable second environment sensing via unique arming maneuver; delayed arming to minimize collateral damage; and GPS anti-jam resistance via inertial-only guidance mode.
Paveway IV is integrated on the Harrier GR9. It is currently being integrated on the Tornado GR4, Typhoon and Joint Strike Fighter.
The trials, which demonstrated Paveway IV integration with RAF Harrier GR9 strike aircraft, included the release of 14 operational weapons demonstrating capability across the full range of Paveway IV operational parameters.