Air Weapons: April 16, 2003

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For the first time, during the Iraq campaign, a B-52 heavy bomber used a targeting pod (a Litening II pod) to spot and designate with a laser, a target that was then hit with a laser guided Paveway II bomb. Normally, B-52s fly too high to use a laser designator. But the B-52 can fly low, at least low enough (4-5,000 meters) to use the laser designator and still stay above light anti-aircraft weapons. With the B-52s large carrying capacity (over two dozen bombs per sortie), one aircraft can take out many targets quickly.

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