View source for PAVE

{{Short description|United States military electronic system program}}
{{About|a military electronic system|other uses|Pave (disambiguation)}}
[[File:F-4D 13th TFS 432nd TRW with Pave Sword laser 1971.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An early [[Pave Sword]] laser pod on a [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4D]] during the [[Vietnam War]], 1971.]]

'''PAVE''' is a [[United States Air Force]] program identifier relating to electronic systems. Prior to 1979, Pave was said to be a [[Code word (communication)|code word]] for the Air Force unit responsible for the project.<ref name=ADA088323>{{cite report |author=Engineering Panel on the PAVE PAWS Radar System |year=1979 |title=Radiation Intensity of the PAVE PAWS Radar System |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a088323.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714130334/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a088323.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |number=ADA 088323  |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=2014-06-05 |page= 6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://fas.org/spp/starwars/program/uewr.htm |title= Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) |website= Federation of American Scientists |access-date= 24 May 2015 |archive-date= 15 March 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090315015235/https://fas.org/spp/starwars/program/uewr.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> ''Pave'' was used as an inconsequential prefix identifier for a wide range of different programs,<ref name=HAER>{{cite report |title=Photographs / Written Historical and Descriptive Data: Cape Cod Air Station Technical Facility/Scanner Building and Power Plant |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma1600/ma1633/data/ma1633data.pdf |access-date=2014-06-10 |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715034251/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma1600/ma1633/data/ma1633data.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-15 }}</ref> though [[backronym]]s and alternative meanings have been used.<ref name="Aerofiles">{{cite web |url= http://www.aerofiles.com/pave.html |title= The Acronym That Wasn't |website= Aerofiles |access-date= 24 May 2015 }}</ref> For example, in the helicopters [[Pave Low]] and [[Pave Hawk]] it was said to mean ''Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment'',<ref name="Aerofiles" /> but in [[PAVE PAWS]] it was said to mean ''Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry''.<ref name=HAER />

==PAVE systems==
* [[Pave Aegis]] – Refit of [[AC-130]] gunships with a 105mm cannon<ref name=HobsonLovelady>{{cite web |url= https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/index.php/details/abbreviations |last1=Hobson|first1=Chris|last2=Lovelady|first2=David|title=Vietnam Air Losses: Abbreviations and Glossary of Operations, Code Names, and Projects|publisher=Viet Nam Air Losses|access-date=September 20, 2024}}</ref>
* [[Pave Arrow]] – Development of AN/AVQ-14 [[Laser tracker|laser tracking]] pod for use with AN/AVQ-12 ''Pave Spot'' [[laser designator]] on [[C-123K Provider]] and [[O-2A Skymaster]] [[forward air control]] aircraft<ref name=MIL828>{{Cite web |url= https://man.fas.org/dod-101/sys/smart/mil-hdbk-828.htm |title= Summary of Mil-Handbook-828 |access-date= Aug 30, 2025 |website= [[Federation of American Scientists|FAS]] Military Analysis Network}}</ref>
* [[Pave Buff]] – Pathfinder bombing operation using two [[LORAN-C]]/[[LORAN-D|D]] AN/ARN-92 receiver equipped [[B-52D Stratofortress]] bombers to lead a three-aircraft cell of B-52s to a target in [[Southeast Asia]] during the [[Vietnam War]]<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://usmilitarypatches.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=85&pid=49180 |title= File 338/634 |website= Coppermine |access-date= Sep 22, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/afhistory/khmer.pdf |title= Pathfinder Operations in the Khmer Republic |last= Redfearn |first= Col Charles |date= Sep 30, 1974 |access-date= Sep 22, 2025 |page= 22}}</ref>
* [[Pave COIN]]/Project Little Brother - A USAF program evaluating counter insurgency aircraft during the early 1970s.
* [[Pave Cricket]] – [[Boeing CEM-138]] [[electronic countermeasures]] mini drone, a [[CQM-121A Pave Tiger]] equipped with a jamming system. Program cancelled.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-138.html |last1=Parsch|first1=Andreas|title=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles: CEM-138|date=8 November 2002|publisher=Designation-Systems.net|access-date=March 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[Beechcraft Bonanza#QU-22 Pave Eagle|Pave Eagle]] – Modified Beechcraft Bonanza drone aircraft for low altitude sensor monitoring.
* [[Pave Gat]] – Program to develop a [[laser rangefinder]] for the [[B-52G Stratofortress]]{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk|Pave Hawk]] – [[Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk]] special operations and combat search and rescue helicopter.
* [[Pave Knife]] – [[Ford Aerospace]] AN/AVQ-10 early laser targeting pod.
* [[Pave Lance]] – Program to replace the ''Pave Knife'' AN/AVQ-10 adding [[forward looking infrared]] (FLIR) capability in place of [[low light level television]] (LLLTV), but ''Pave Tack'' development of AN/AVQ-26 took priority{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Light]] – Development of a stabilized [[laser designator]], the AN/AVQ-9, for [[F-4 Phantom II]] aircraft{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Sikorsky MH-53|Pave Low]] – Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low special ops and combat search and rescue helicopter.
* [[Pave Mack]] – [[Laser guidance|Laser seeker head]] development program for [[air-to-surface missile]]s, also referred to as LARS (Laser Aided Rocket System) for use with the AN/AVQ-12 ''Pave Spot'' [[laser designator]]{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Mint]] – Upgrade of the AN/ALQ-117 [[electronic warfare]] system to the [[AN/ALQ-172]].
* [[Pave Mover]] – Demonstration program to develop the [[AN/APY-7]] radar wide-area [[surveillance]], ground [[moving target indicator]] (GMTI), fixed target indicator (FTI) target classification, and [[synthetic aperture radar]] (SAR) for the [[E-8 Joint STARS]].<ref>{{Cite web | title=8. DARPA’s Process for Creating New Programs | url=https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0184/ch8.xhtml | access-date=2025-08-25 | website=books.openbookpublishers.com}}</ref>
* [[OV-10 Bronco|Pave Nail]] - AN/AVQ-13 stabilized periscopic [[laser designator]] aboard [[North American Rockwell OV-10 Bronco]] with AN/AVQ-12 ''Pave Spot'' target [[laser designator]] pod.
* [[Pave Onyx]] – Vietnam era Advanced Location Strike System c.1973.<ref name=SmithByrd>{{cite report |last1=Smith |first1=John Q. |last2=Byrd |first2=David A |year= 1991 |title=Forty Years of Research and Development at Griffis Air Force Base: June 1951 – June 1991 |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA250435 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408131948/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA250435 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 8, 2013 |number=AD-A250 435 |publisher=Rome Laboratory |access-date=2014-03-10 |page= 130 }}</ref>
* [[Pave Pace]] – A fully integrated avionics architecture featuring functional resource allocation.
* [[PAVE PAWS]] – The [[Phased-Array]] Warning System which replaced the three [[BMEWS]] radars. Pave in this case is a [[backronym]] for Perimeter<ref name=Winkler>{{cite report |last1=Winkler |first1=David F |last2=Webster |first2=Julie L |date=June 1997 |title=Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program |url=http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201202922/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 1, 2012 |location=Champaign, IL |lccn=97020912 |publisher=U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories |access-date=2013-04-23}}</ref> or Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry.<ref name=HAER>{{cite report |title=Photographs / Written Historical and Descriptive Data: Cape Cod Air Station Technical Facility/Scanner Building and Power Plant |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma1600/ma1633/data/ma1633data.pdf |access-date=2014-06-10 |page=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715034251/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma1600/ma1633/data/ma1633data.pdf |archive-date=2014-07-15 }}</ref>
* [[Pave Penny]] – Lockheed-Martin AN/AAS-35(V) laser spot tracker.
* [[Pave Pepper]] – An Air Force [[Space and Missile Systems Organization]] project to decrease the size of the [[Minuteman III]] warheads allowing more to be launched by one missile.
* [[Pave Phantom]] – Long Range Navigation ([[LORAN-D]]) AN/ARN-92 and computer added to [[F-4D Phantom II]] storing information for 8 different targets designated by the [[OV-10 Bronco]] with the ''Pave Nail'' AN/AVQ-13 designator{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Pillar]] – Generic core avionics architecture system for combat aircraft.
* [[Pave Pointer]] – [[C-123K Provider]] [[Pallet|palletized]] [[laser designator]]/[[rangefinder]]/[[low light level television]] system used as a [[Gun Direction Platform]]{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Prism]] – [[Infrared]] and active [[Laser guidance|laser seekers]] development for use on the [[AIM-132]] air-to-air missile{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Pronto]] – Lockheed AC-130 Spectre gunship program adding a night observation camera, AN/AAD-4 or AN/AAD-6 [[FLIR]], and AN/AVQ-17 illuminator.{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Scope]] – Development of [[target acquisition]] aids like [[TISEO]] and the Honeywell AN/AVG-8 ''Eagle Eye'' Visual Target Acquistion Set (VTAS) helmet sighting system{{r|MIL828}}<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://chucksguides.com/aircraft/dcs/f-4e/#[4,%22XYZ%22,0,540,null] |title= DCS Guide - F-4E Phantom II, Part 1 Introduction: The Phantom's History |date= May 7, 2025 |access-date= Sep 7, 2025 |website= Chuck's Guides}}</ref>
* [[Pave Spectre]] – Lockheed AC-130E gunships.<ref name=HobsonLovelady/>
* [[Pave Spike]] – [[Westinghouse Electronics|Westinghouse]] AN/ASQ-153, AN/AVQ-23 [[electro-optical]] [[laser designator]] pod.
* [[Pave Spot]] – AN/AVQ-12 stabilized periscopic night vision sight [[laser designator]] pod developed for use on the [[O-2A Skymaster]]{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Sword]] – AN/AVQ-11 [[laser tracker]] for [[F-4 Phantom II]] aircraft.{{r|MIL828}}
* [[Pave Tack]] – [[Ford Aerospace]] AN/AVQ-26 [[electro-optical]] targeting pod, first used on [[F-4 Phantom II]] and later on [[F-111F Aardvark]] aircraft.
* [[Pave Tiger]] – Boeing designed drone (CQM-121A) for [[Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses]]. CGM-121B was code named ''Seek Spinner''.<ref name=CGM121>{{cite web |url= https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-121.html |last1=Parsch|first1=Andreas|title=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles: CQM/CGM-121|date=8 November 2002|publisher=Designations Sysems.net|access-date=March 28, 2025}}</ref>
* [[Paveway|Pave Way]] – Project to develop a series of [[laser-guided bomb]]s developed by [[Texas Instruments]]

==See also==
* [[Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System]] (LAMPS)
* [[LANTIRN]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite web |url=  https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/lgb.htm |title= Laser Guided Bombs |website= Federation of American Scientists |access-date= 24 May 2015}} - Contains a list of PAVE program names relating to Laser Guided bombs
* {{citation |title=Nicknames and Practice Terms |date=15 March 1979 |publisher=Department of the Air Force |page=30 |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112106754044&seq=30 |access-date=31 January 2022}}
{{Refend}}

{{PAVE US}}

[[Category:Equipment of the United States Air Force]]