Lockheed Martin has received a $100.5 million contract from the U.S. Air Force for production of paveway II Plus Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) GBU-12 guidance kits.

The award to Lockheed Martin represents the majority share of an initial $134 million paveway II Plus LGB procurement, part of an overall $475 million five-year, firm-fixed-price, multiple-award contract announced by the U.S. Air Force on August 1.

Deliveries on the contract will begin in 2012. The GBU-12 guidance kits consist of the recently integrated MAU-209C/B computer control group, which contains the electronic guidance system, and the MXU-650 air foil group, which provides lift and stability to the weapons.

Lockheed Martin's paveway II Plus LGB guidance kits significantly improve weapon accuracy and reduce risk to U.S. and allied ground forces when compared to the legacy paveway II weapons.

Lockheed Martin is currently producing paveway II Plus LGB GBU-12 kits for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy as part of a $34 million U.S. Air Force contract awarded in 2010.

"The Lockheed Martin paveway II Plus LGB raises the bar in performance for paveway II accuracy and precision," said Joe Serra, senior manager for precision guided systems in Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control business.

"This contract is a testament to our commitment to continuous product improvement, combined with our ability to deliver a better performing product to our customer at the lowest cost."

Lockheed Martin's LGB kits can be carried on U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and most international aircraft platforms currently authorized to carry and release LGBs.

The paveway II Plus LGB does not require upgrades or modifications to aircraft, ground handling equipment or logistics support, and continues the same basic paveway II concept of operation for employment by converting conventional gravity weapons into precision-guided munitions.

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 55,000 LGB kits to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Laser guided bombs have been used successfully in Operation Iraqi Freedom and current overseas contingency operations.

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