This advanced and highly accurate weapon will provide the RAF’s strike fleet with a state-of-the-art precision guided bomb when it enters service in 2007 replacing the existing Paveway II and Enhanced Paveway II weapons and 505kg unguided general purpose bombs. Equipped with the latest Global Positioning Guidance technology, Paveway IV is a low-cost, all-weather, 24-hour precision bombing capability able to defeat the majority of general-purpose targets.

Paveway IV will significantly minimize collateral damage through one of the world’s most advanced fuses fitted with a ‘Late-Arm’ safety device that will not allow an off-course munition to arm. It will also be fitted with a warhead designed to meet the latest requirements of NATO Insensitive Munition safety policy.

The increased accuracy of the system allows for a warhead half the size (225kg) of conventional Paveway II bombs. Paveway IV’s lighter weight provides greater flexibility given the potential for a single aircraft to carry more of the weapons and so strike more targets in a single pass. The weapons can be reprogrammed with target data by the aircrew while airborne.

Other improvements over older weapons include less drag, greater accuracy, higher resistance to jamming, better supportability, zero maintenance, lower cost and a significant improvement in safety through the use of safer explosive compounds. The first platform to receive the weapon will be the Harrier GR9 with Tornado GR4 and Typhoon F2 to follow. Paveway IV is also a candidate weapon for JCA. Warhead trials and tests using an Environmental Test Vehicle variant were under way during 2005.