Lockheed Martin received a $34.1 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for follow-on production of paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) GBU-10, GBU-12 and GBU-16 guidance kits.

With this contract, Lockheed Martin received the majority share of a $56 million paveway II Plus LGB procurement. Production is expected to begin in early 2014. The contract is part of an overall $475 million five-year, firm-fixed-price, multiple-award contract announced by the U.S. Air Force in August 2011. Lockheed Martin was qualified as paveway supplier in 2001.

“The Lockheed Martin paveway II Plus LGB guidance kits significantly improve weapon accuracy and reduce risk to U.S. and allied ground forces when employed in place of legacy paveway II weapons,” said Joe Serra, Senior Manager for Precision Guided Systems in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will build and deliver paveway II Plus LGB kits, consisting of MAU-209C/B computer control groups that contain the electronic guidance system and the associated air foil groups that provide lift and stability to the weapons, in standard GBU-10 MK-84 (2,000 lb.), GBU-12 MK-82 (500 lb.), GBU-16 MK-83 (1,000 lb.) series configurations. All work will be performed at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Archbald, Pennsylvania.

Lockheed Martin is a qualified provider of all three variants of paveway II MK-80 series LGBs, and is the sole provider of the paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round and Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 65,000 LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Laser guided bombs have been used successfully in overseas military operations.