Secure UK Laser-Guided Bomb Jobs
by Baron Halpenny, LincsMag Editor.
Date: 03 April 2012
Hundreds of UK jobs will be sustained as a £60M deal for extra RAF precision weapons has been awarded to UK firms, the MoD announced on 03 April 2012.
The laser guided bomb, Paveway IV, is among the most advanced precision bombs in the world and is considered the backbone of the RAF’s bombing capability.
The contract has been awarded to Raytheon UK and will sustain some 450 jobs in advanced weapons manufacturing at its plants in Glenrothes, Scotland and Harlow, Essex.
A number of jobs will also be sustained at subcontractors Portsmouth Aviation Ltd, at Portsmouth and Thales plant based in Basingstoke.
The Glenrothes plant will be responsible for the Guidance Control Section of the weapon and will also undertake the final integration of the complete Guidance Unit, while Thales Missile Electronics are the other major UK sub-system supplier responsible for the design and manufacture of the Multi-event Hard Target Fuse.
Further work will be sustained at Portsmouth Aviation Ltd, ITT/EDO/MBM Technologies Ltd in Brighton and RSL’s plant at Harlow.
Proven In Combat
Paveway IV proved highly effective during the 2011 air campaign over Libya and is also currently used in Afghanistan on our RAF Tornado jets. It is fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and laser guidance systems which mean that the precision delivery of the capability is unaffected by clouds or smoke screens, giving the United Kingdom the capability to conduct 24-hour attacks against a wide range of targets.
The weapon has a UK-developed fail-safe fuse mechanism which means that the bomb will only detonate once it has reached its intended target.
Commenting on the current new £60M deal, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Baz North, said: “Paveway munitions have long been a success story for the Royal Air Force in terms of their precision bombing capability. The ability to operate in any weather means that we are able to support operations 24/7; Paveway IV weapons are a real asset to not only the Royal Air Force, but to Defence as a whole.”
Paveway IV was first introduced to operations in Afghanistan in 2008 and plans are in hand to fit it to the RAF’s Typhoon combat aircraft in 2013.
