Raytheon UK has completed a series of integration trials with the Eurofighter Typhoon involving its Paveway IV precision-guided bomb carrying an Italian-produced warhead.
Announcing the development on 8 September, the company said the activity took place during July, involved flights from the Royal Air Force’s (RAF’s) Marham base in Norfolk, and used the Ministry of Defence’s Aberporth test range off the West Wales coast.
“The trials included weapon and platform training, live-fire exercises, mission planning simulations and cross-force tactical integration,” the RTX company says.
While the Paveway IV has been used operationally since 2008 by the RAF’s now-retired BAE Systems Harrier GR7/9s and Panavia Tornado GR4s, and now is carried by its Typhoon FGR4s, the 226kg (500lb)-class weapon has now been fitted with a Mk82 warhead supplied by Rheinmetall subsidiary RWM Italia.
“The successful completion of these trials is an important milestone in allied defence co-operation,” says James Gray, chief executive of Raytheon UK.
The co-operation “exemplifies how industry can enable greater interoperability, lethality and capability across NATO forces, helping them maintain air superiority”, he adds.
