Bombe Guidée Laser (BGL)

laser-guided bomb A laser-guided bomb (LGB) is a guided bomb that uses semi-active laser guidance to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than an unguided bomb. First developed by the United States during the Vietnam War, laser-guided bombs quickly pr ...

s were developed by

Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and wea ...

(now

MBDA MBDA is a European multinational developer and manufacturer of missiles.MBDA Inc. US Division Co ...

) starting in 1978. The guidance system had to work using the same principles as the US

Paveway Paveway is a series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs). ''Pave'' or PAVE is sometimes used as an acronym for ''precision avionics vectoring equipment''; literally, electronics for controlling the speed and direction of aircraft. Laser guidance i ...

guided bombs. The guidance kits were intended as modifications to existing free fall bombs that were in service with the French Air Force. The semi active laser homing (SALH) guidance system was developed starting from the

AS-30 The AS-30 was an air-to-ground missile built by Nord Aviation. It was a precision attack weapon designed to be used against high-value targets such as bridges and bunkers. The AS-30 was essentially a larger version of the earlier AS-20 design, a ...

laser-guided missile sensor. The guidance system allowed for in-flight target illumination by the aircraft-mounted ATLIS 2 (Automatic Tracking Laser Illumination System) or with ground-based

laser designator A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire ...

targeting pod. The BGL targeting system are attached to 250, 400 and 1,000 kg free-fall

general-purpose bomb A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. They are designed to be effective against enemy troops, vehicles, and buildings. Characteristics ...

s. The French Air Force discontinued the purchases due to the higher cost compared to the US

family bombs that were adopted as an interim solution while waiting for the French-made AASM family of guided bombs to enter service. The BGLs were combat-proven over Bosnia in 1994–1995 and in the Kosovo conflict in Spring 1999. The BGL series of bombs includes: * BGL-250 – 250 kg bomb * BGL-400 – 400 kg bomb * BGL-1000 – 1,000 kg bomb

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombe Guidee Laser Guided bombs Aerial bombs of France Military equipment introduced in the 1970s