MQ-9 Reaper drops first GPS-guided weapon
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --
A test team with the 658th Aeronautical Systems Squadron completed the first live releases of the GPS-guided GBU-49 weapon from an MQ-9 Reaper May 13 at the Naval Air Warfare Center--Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif.
The 25-member team from the 658th AESS, along with General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems-Inc., Raytheon, L-3 Communications and NAWC-WD conducted the testing that consisted of six successful GBU-49 releases in one day.
This test was the first GPS-guided weapon release from the MQ-9 Reaper. The team turned three sorties to drop six weapons in a single day, due to the efforts of the pilots, sensor operators, maintainers, weapons troops and testers.
The first two drops were inert weapons to ensure the GBU-49's GPS guidance was working properly. The final release employed four weapons at one time, also known as a ripple, with three weapons on GPS guidance and the fourth weapon guided by laser. The three GPS weapons "shacked" (a successful, direct hit on a ground target) their targets and the laser-guided weapon came very close.
The GBU-49 is a laser-guided, 500-pound bomb much like the GBU-12, but it also includes an on-board GPS kit. The GBU-49 provides the warfighter an all-weather capability to employ a munition with precision without the aid of a laser designator.
(Steve Yamaguchi , 658th AESG, Operating Location-Detachment 3 Gray Butte, contributed to this article)
The 25-member team from the 658th AESS, along with General Atomics, Aeronautical Systems-Inc., Raytheon, L-3 Communications and NAWC-WD conducted the testing that consisted of six successful GBU-49 releases in one day.
This test was the first GPS-guided weapon release from the MQ-9 Reaper. The team turned three sorties to drop six weapons in a single day, due to the efforts of the pilots, sensor operators, maintainers, weapons troops and testers.
The first two drops were inert weapons to ensure the GBU-49's GPS guidance was working properly. The final release employed four weapons at one time, also known as a ripple, with three weapons on GPS guidance and the fourth weapon guided by laser. The three GPS weapons "shacked" (a successful, direct hit on a ground target) their targets and the laser-guided weapon came very close.
The GBU-49 is a laser-guided, 500-pound bomb much like the GBU-12, but it also includes an on-board GPS kit. The GBU-49 provides the warfighter an all-weather capability to employ a munition with precision without the aid of a laser designator.
(Steve Yamaguchi , 658th AESG, Operating Location-Detachment 3 Gray Butte, contributed to this article)
