No, we don't compare ourselves to any country. We are the only self-defensive country in the ME, unlike many, which entails us to introduce strategic tactics to prevent an aggression.
With all the military stuff they have been buying lately they probably have more equipment than Saddam ever had.
Laser guided bomb with GPS/INS stuff. The typical bomb you see in the videos when a target is moving and they have to keep it in the crosshairs.
Raytheon Wins $247M Saudi Arabia Guided Bomb Order
Saudi Arabia becomes first Paveway IV export customer
Raytheon UK has won a potential $247 million order for its precision-guided bomb from the government of Saudi Arabia, Defense News
reported Tuesday.
Andrew Chuter writes that Congress has approved export of the Paveway IV to the Middle Eastern country as the first foreign customer of the precision-guided bomb.
John Michel, weapons business director at Raytheon UK, told Defense News that the contract was inked in December and approved by Congress in February.
Michel also told the publication that the weapons will be built over the next two years and that the first bombs will be delivered in 18 months.
Michel said the company expects to receive orders from other customers such as Oman following the U.S. congressional approval for the Paveway IV export, Defense News reports.
The company has already delivered 4,000 Paveway bombs to the British military, according to Defense News.
Raytheon Wins $247M Saudi Arabia Guided Bomb Order; John Michel Comments | ExecutiveBiz
HOME DEFENCE WEAPONS AIR-LAUNCHED WEAPONS ARTICLE
Air-Launched Weapons
Saudi Arabia becomes first Paveway IV export customer
Nicholas de Larrinaga, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
25 March 2014
Raytheon has secured its first export order for the Paveway IV precision guided munition. The unnamed customer is understood to be Saudi Arabia. Source: Raytheon
Raytheon has secured its first export customer for the Paveway IV 500lb dual-mode (INS/GPS and laser-guided) precision guided munition (PGM), company officials confirmed on 25 March.
While the company was unable to confirm the identity of the customer, it is understood to be the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF). The Saudi export order is estimated to be worth in the region of GBP150 million (USD248 million) and to be for around 2,400 Paveway IVs.
A contract for the Paveway IV order is understood to have been signed between Raytheon UK and Saudi Arabia in December 2013, with the company receiving export approval from the US Congress - needed due to the use of US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) sanctioned technology in the Paveway IV - in February.
The RSAF has long been earmarked as a potential Paveway IV operator, with
IHS Jane's reporting in July 2013 that a Saudi export contract for Paveway IV was expected to be signed in December 2013. It is understood the RSAF intends to deploy the Paveway IV from both their Eurofighter Typhoon and Panavia Tornado fighter aircraft, although not from their Boeing F-15 Eagle fighters.
John Michel, business director for Raytheon Missile Systems in the United Kingdom stated the order was of "significant" value and volume of Paveway IVs, but was unable to confirm specific numbers.
Raytheon confirmed that production was already beginning for the new order, with relevant sub-contracts having already been placed.
Michel expects that first delivery of the Paveway IV will occur in the next 18 months, with all deliveries completed six months thereafter.
The company also announced the delivery of the 4,000th Paveway IV to the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), the weapon's only current operator, on 25 March. The RAF first ordered the Paveway IV in 2003, placing a contract for around 2,400 units of the PGM. Two further follow on orders (totalling around 1,600 units) were placed by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) in April and December 2012 to replenish stocks expended on operations in Afghanistan and Libya.
The Saudi order thus comes at a fortuitous time for Raytheon UK, which, with deliveries now almost complete for the RAF, would have otherwise have lacked an order to maintain production at the company's Glenrothes facility in Scotland, which has the capacity to build around 200 Paveway IV units per month.
Michel stated that the export order would maintain production of the Paveway IV at Raytheon UK's Glenrothes facility in Scotland for another 24 months, which provides a solid indication of the number of PGMs involved in the Saudi order. With the RAF's 2012 orders for 1,600 being valued by the UK MoD at over GBP100 million, the value of the Saudi order is likely to be in the region of GBP150 million, plus any additional training, integration, logistics and support costs.
Originally developed for the UK Harrier GR.9 aircraft, the Paveway IV is currently only deployed by the RAF's Panavia Tornado GR.4 fleet, with over 1,000 Paveway IV combat drops carried out by the RAF over both Afghanistan and Libya. Paveway IV marked a step-change for the laser-guided Paveway PGM series, being the first version to incorporate a GPS/INS targeting capability, which has since been introduced into the Enhanced Paveway II series of PGMs, and also a readily programmable detonation capability, including: impact burst, delayed burst, or air-burst detonation options.
Paveway IV was developed for an MoD requirement for a solely INS/GPS guided munition, although the MoD subsequently opted to incorporate a laser-guidance unit, with the baseline Paveway IV accordingly now featuring both INS/GPS and laser guidance. Unlike other iterations of the Paveway series, the Paveway IV is only available as a 500lb weapon, using the Mk 83 warhead.
Work to operationally clear the Paveway IV on the Typhoon has been underway for some time under the Typhoon Phase 1 Enhancement (P1E) programme, with TJ Marsden, chief engineer on the Paveway IV programme stating on 25 March that Raytheon had now completed integration work of the PGM on the Typhoon. Alongside the integration work of Paveway IV on Typhoon, Raytheon has completely requalified the bomb for the Tornado to certify the aircraft to carry the PGM on all of its weapon stations and for all operational scenarios. Operational clearance of the Paveway IV on the Typhoon is expected to follow Raytheon's completion of the integration work, although the exact timeline for this is in the hands of the UK MoD.
The Paveway IVs for Saudi Arabia are expected to be of Raytheon's new baseline for the PGM, known as Mk II, which incorporates improved capabilities, based on the RAF's operational experience with the munition. These include an improved level of GPS accuracy, and an increased launch acceptability region for releasing the Paveway IV.
Additionally, Raytheon has developed a number of optional spiral upgrades for the Paveway IV, under the Selective Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) Capability 1 programme, which are expected to be shortly be decided on by the UK MoD Defence Board. The first of these is a low collateral damage warhead for the Paveway IV, which Raytheon fired for the first time in early March at the MoD's West Freugh test range in Scotland.
The company has also developed a penetrator warhead for the Paveway IV, through which the company is aiming to provide roughly the same level of capability as a 2,000 lb penetrator in a 500 lb package. To achieve this, the warhead incorporates an inner hardened-steel penetrator surrounded by a frangible peeling shroud, operating on the same principle as a sabot round to provide a higher sectional density and reduced impact area to improve penetration, while maintaining the same form and fit as with the standard Mk 83 warhead.
The third upgrade provides the transfer of the moving targeting capability of the Enhanced Paveway II's digital seeker onto the Paveway IV, allowing for the engagement of manoeuvring targets travelling at speeds of over 70 mph. A fourth upgrade, not part of the UK's SPEAR Cap 1 programme, includes the installation of an active-GPS anti-jamming unit in the tail of the Paveway IV, augmenting the passive anti-jam capability already present in the PGM's seeker.
The company expects that these upgrades could be operational within four to five years of MoD approval, with both the low collateral warhead and the digital seeker upgrades expected to be cost neutral.
