View source for GBU-27 Paveway III

{{Infobox weapon
|name               = GBU-27 Paveway III
| image              = GBU-27 xxl.jpg
| image_size         = 350
|caption            = GBU-27 Paveway III
|type               = Laser guided bomb
<!-- Type selection -->
|service            = 1987–present
|wars               =
<!-- Production history -->
|designer           = [[Texas Instruments]]
|number             =
|spec_label         =
|length             = {{convert|4.2|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|width              =
|height             =
|diameter           = {{convert|711|mm|in|abbr=on}}
<!-- Ranged weapon specifications -->
|origin             = United States
|is_ranged          =yes
|is_bladed          =
|is_explosive       =yes
|is_missile         =
<!-- Service history -->
|used_by            =
|design_date        =
|manufacturer       = [[Raytheon Technologies|Raytheon]]
|unit_cost          = US $ 55,600<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-24.htm |title=Guided Bomb Unit-24 (GBU-24) Paveway III |access-date=2019-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328122446/https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-24.htm |archive-date=2019-03-28 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|production_date    =
|variants           =
<!-- General specifications -->
|weight             = {{convert|900|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|part_length        =
|rate               =
|velocity           =
|range              = {{convert|19|km|mi|abbr=on}}
|max_range          =
<!-- Explosive specifications -->
|filling            =
|filling_weight     =
|detonation         =
|yield              =
<!-- Vehicle/missile specifications -->
|guidance           = [[Laser guidance]]
|steering           =
<!-- Missiles only -->
|wingspan           = {{convert|1.65|km|mi|abbr=on}}
|propellant         =
|ceiling            =
|altitude           =
|depth              =
|boost              =
|accuracy           =
|launch_platform    = [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk]]
|transport          =
}}
The '''GBU-27 Paveway III''' (Guided Bomb Unit) is a [[laser-guided bomb]] with [[bunker busting|bunker buster]] capabilities. It is a [[GBU-24 Paveway III]] fitted on the warhead of the [[BLU-109]] bomb body that has been redesigned to be used by the [[Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk|F-117A Nighthawk]] [[Stealth aircraft|stealth]] [[Attack aircraft|ground attack]] aircraft. The pilots flying over Iraq during the [[Gulf War|First Gulf War]] nicknamed it the "Hammer",<ref name="Don">{{cite journal|last=Don|first=Holloway|date=March 1996|title=STEALTH SECRETS OF THE F-117 NIGHTHAWK: Its development was kept under wraps for 14 years, but by 1991, the F-117 nighthawk had become a household word.|journal=Aviation History|publisher=Cowles Magazines|location=Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|issn=1076-8858}}</ref> for its considerable destructive power and blast radius.<ref name="Don"/>

==Combat history==
The GBU-27 was used in [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]]. It was the weapon used in the February 13, 1991 [[Amiriyah shelter bombing|attack on the Amiriyah shelter]], which resulted in the deaths of more than 400 Iraqi civilians. It was also used in a series of strikes on the Muthanna State Enterprise site during February 1991.<ref>William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense, "[http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/al_muth_ii/al_muth_ii_s03.htm The Gulf War Air Campaign - Possible Chemical Warfare Agent Release at Al Muthanna, February 8, 1991] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311044426/http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/al_muth_ii/al_muth_ii_s03.htm |date=March 11, 2007}}", November 15, 2001.</ref>

During the 1999 [[NATO bombing of Yugoslavia]], two of these bombs were used to destroy the [[Avala Tower]], a landmark telecommunications and observation tower near [[Belgrade]]; the structure was later rebuilt.<ref>{{cite web|last=Niebyl|first=Donald|date=3 June 2020|title=The Iconic Concrete Transmission Towers of Yugoslavia|website=Spomenik Database|url=https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/post/the-concrete-transmission-towers-of-yugoslavia|accessdate=20 June 2025}}</ref> 

During the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], the [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] dropped 98 EGBU-27s on Iraqi targets.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-106432932.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045502/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-106432932.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2015|title=Royal Air Force Dropped More Than 400 Enhanced Paveway Bombs During OIF|work=Defense Daily|date=8 July 2003|access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref>

The first [[Foreign Military Sales|foreign sale]] of the GBU-27 was the acquisition by [[Israel]] of 500 units equipped with BLU-109 penetrating warheads, authorized in September 2004.<ref> Raas and Long, 2006</ref> Delivery of such precision guided weaponry was accelerated at the request of Israel in July 2006, though the exact munition were not specified. [[Israeli Defense Forces]] officials state that other [[precision-guided munition]]s have been used to attack [[Hezbollah]] facilities in the [[2006 Lebanon War]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html?hp&ex=1153540800&en=3f2d5ce210ea0b64&ei=5094&partner=homepage |title=U.S. Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis |newspaper=The New York Times |date=22 July 2006 |access-date=2019-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615013405/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/world/middleeast/22military.html?hp&ex=1153540800&en=3f2d5ce210ea0b64&ei=5094&partner=homepage |archive-date=2018-06-15 |url-status=live |last1=Cloud |first1=David S. |last2=Cooper |first2=Helene}}</ref> However, the [[bunker buster|bunker busting]] technology in the GBU-27 could be directed, according to Israeli military sources, at [[Iran]] or possibly [[Syria]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/1472353/Israel-challenges-Irans-nuclear-ambitions.html |author=Anton La Guardia |title=Israel challenges Iran's nuclear ambitions |date=September 22, 2004 |access-date=July 28, 2019}}</ref>

As of 2011, the UK's [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] have also ordered the GBU-27 for use in [[Libya]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13589783 www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13589783] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101030632/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13589783 |date=2018-01-01}}.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Paveway]]
*[[JDAM]]
*[[BLU-109]]

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
;Bibliography
{{Refbegin}}
*Whitney Raas and Austin Long, [http://web.mit.edu/ssp/Publications/working_papers/wp_06-1.pdf Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824164151/http://web.mit.edu/ssp/Publications/working_papers/wp_06-1.pdf |date=2016-08-24 }}, MIT Security Studies Program Working Paper, April 2006.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commonscat|GBU-27}}
*[http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/gbu-27.htm FAS]
*[http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app5/paveway-3.html Raytheon (Texas Instruments) Paveway III - Designation Systems]

{{USAF Weapons}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gbu-27 Paveway Iii}}
[[Category:Guided bombs of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War aerial bombs of the United States]] 
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Raytheon Company products]]
[[Category:Texas Instruments]]