unpowered,
laser-guided weapon. Dimensions: Length 14 ft.
So, really, to put something in the front door you need a GBU-12 500-pounder or a GBU-10 2,000-pound
laser-guided weapon.
The weapons are expected to include some 400 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the
laser-guided weapon used to blast breaches in Iraq's air-defence network at the start of the air war against Saddam Hussein in January 1991.
The 500-pound munition is a
laser-guided weapon similar to the Paveway II, but its on-board GPS kit will give Reapers the ability to drop bombs in all weather conditions.
"But any weapon that is guided by laser or infra-red beams is deflected by clouds, so if you try and use a
laser-guided weapon through clouds what you have is a simple, unguided bomb, and therefore you risk civilian casualties."
The smallest bomb the Navy and the Air Force employ, a 500-pound satellite- or
laser-guided weapon, "gives you collateral damage," Ralston says.
Nato admitted that a
laser-guided weapon had gone astray and accidentally hit a residential area of Surdulica in Tuesday's attack.
The presence of trees, leaves, grass or other vegetation may prevent the use of a ground-based laser designator, or create a laser spot short of the target upon which a semi-active
laser-guided weapon could home, perhaps endangering the designator.
Another important case of semi-active guidance is the
laser-guided weapon that homes on the scintillation of a laser designator from a ground target.