Griffin LGB

HAL Tejas KH-2017 (LSP-07) with green and red Griffin Laser Guided Bomb, pictured above a black Litening LDP and behind a white Vympel R-73E SRAAM.

The Griffin Laser Guided Bomb (Griffin LGB) is a laser-guided bomb system made by Israel Aerospace Industries' MBT missile division. It is an add-on kit which is used to retrofit existing Mark 82, Mark 83, and Mark 84 and other unguided 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,Sukhoi SU 30 MKI[6] and Atlas Cheetah D aircraft.[1]

See also

• Spice (munition)
• GBU-12 Paveway II
• Sudarshan laser-guided bomb

References

1. "Griffin laser-guided bomb (LGB) system (Israel), Bombs – Precision and guided munitions". Jane's Air-Launched Weapons, Jane's Information Group. July 31, 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
2. "Laser-Guided Bomb Kits". Israel Aerospace Industries. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
3. Shlomo Aloni (10 November 2009). Israeli A-4 Skyhawk Units in Combat. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-430-5. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
4. "Latin America : Special Report". Flight International. 20 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
5. Arie Egozi (July 11, 2008). "Israel to supply India with Griffin 3 bomb guidance kits". Flight International. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
6. Twitter https://twitter.com/kunal_biswas707/status/1476855666618732547. Retrieved 2021-12-31. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• IAI MBT's brochure on the Griffin Archived 2011-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Photographs of a Colombian Air Force Griffin