The Israeli Air Force revealed some details of uses precision-guided munition over the past few decades and announced development of next generation of guided bombs.
A guided bomb is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP) and enable a target to be effectively attacked.
Therefore, with guided weapons, fewer air crews are put at risk, less ordnance spent, and collateral damage reduced.
According to Israeli Air Force (IAF), one of the main munitions is Precision-Guided Munition or guided bombs. From 1982 Operation “Mole Cricket 19” to 2014 Operation “Protective Edge”, Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) have helped the air force’s aircrew members strike their targets with exactitude.
The IAF developed a new form of munition dropping which allowed fighter aircraft pilots to remain hidden at a low altitude and pull up for just a short duration, long enough to allow the guidance system to release the munition in a manner ensuring a considerably precise hit. “It was a new bombing system which improved our accuracy”, described Col. (Res’) Dr. Victor Shenkar, the first PGM project officer in the IAF who later became the Head of the IAF Development Department. “We were certain that we invented the secret weapon with which we would destroy the enemy’s missile batteries”.
The IAF actively used this type of precision-guided munition, which made it possible to achieve a significant result.
At this point, the IAF began working on the next generation of guided bombs. “At that point, we had several variants of glide bombs and PGMs in development. The glide bomb is dropped in an almost straight line towards its target, while the rocket-propelled missiles have a powerful engine allowing them to fly in more complex courses”, explained Col. (Res’) Shenkar. “We wanted to be innovative in this field, and so we decided to develop new PGMs”.
Even though new munitions are constantly being developed by the IAF, certain targets still require the use of PGMs. “When we finished our latest development, it was clear that the next stage was integrating new features meant to improve our offensive capabilities”, concluded Col. (Res’) Shenkar. “However, I have no doubt, that surgical strikes using advanced PGMs will continue to be performed”.