Yesterday there was a message that Great Britain is apparently preparing to transfer Paveway IV guided air bombs in a new package of military aid. What kind of air bombs are these, Defense Express explained in a separate publication, and in particular outlined there the main nuance of such bombs – the range of their use is only 30 kilometers, which is not sufficient in the conditions of current hostilities.
Now we have an interesting publication from The War Zone portal, dedicated to the prospect of the transfer of British Paveway IVs. The information presented in this publication can significantly complement the picture.
Read also: Let’s talk again about the $1 billion package from the US for the Armed Forces, especially where ATACMS is
Paveway IV, photo – RAF
Let’s start the transfer publications from this moment: the authors of TWZ indicate that they asked the Ministry of Defense of Great Britain to comment on the report about the possibility of transferring Paveway IV in the new aid package for Ukraine, to which the British Ministry of Defense replied that “at this stage they do not disclose any details.”
This answer can be read ambiguously, including as an indirect confirmation that Britain is preparing to give us such bombs.
As for the problem with the range of use of Paveway IV, it turns out that there is a way out, and you don’t even have to invent anything new. A few years ago, Britain considered the option of acquiring LongShot kits from Lockheed Martin, which could increase the flight range of the same Paveway IVs. And against this background, the authors of TWZ assume that the same technical solution can be implemented in the transfer of these guided bombs to the Armed Forces.
The LongShot kit, from the corresponding presentation by Lockheed Martin
Technically more complex nuances may arise precisely in the plan of adapting Paveway IV to aircraft in the formation of the Armed Forces, the authors of TWZ assume. Well, for starters, even in the formation of the Royal Air Force, such bombs can currently be used only from two types of aircraft – the F-35B and the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4.
But on the other hand, there is no reason to believe that the adaptation of Paveway IV should be something extremely difficult, especially considering the fact that Britain has already sold Paveway IV for export to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Against this background, the authors of the portal assume that these British bombs can be adapted primarily for the F-16 from Denmark, which had a somewhat similar GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II ammunition in its arsenal. Or they do not rule out the possibility that Paveway IV can be adapted to Soviet-style aircraft using exactly the same technical solutions as happened with JDAM-ER and the French AASM Hammer.
MiG-29 of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the French guided air bomb AASM Hammer-250, spring 2024, photo provided by NIP “Tysk”
Read also: It became known how many Bradleys and other armored vehicles were included in the 1 billion US aid package
