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Serbia and Montenegro develops 'smart' strike weapons
By Seymour Johnson
A television (TV)-guided air-to-surface missile and a laser-guided bomb (LGB) have been developed by Serbia and Montenegro.
The TV-guided missile is based on the earlier GROM ('Thunder' in Serbian), a radio-command guided weapon developed during the 1980s and 1990s. This was based on the Russian Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry') command-guided missile, which was already in service with the Yugoslav Air Force.
According to one source, the TV-guided GROM-B was developed by the VTI (Vojno-Tehnicki Institut) during the late 1990s, while another dates the project to 1996. The designation 'GROM-2' has also been reported for this variant, but since examples of the earlier command-guided version have been seen with the marking 'GROM-02', this reported alternative designation for the new TV-guided weapon may be incorrect.
The nose-mounted TV seeker is based on that of the AGM-65B Maverick air-to-surface missile, which had been sold to the former Yugoslavia. During the 1991 war with Croatia, the Yugoslav Air Force retrofitted its SOKO G-4 Super Galeb aircraft with AGM-65B Mavericks.
One source told JMR that the new seeker is better than the US original and incorporates "a modern CCD camera with higher resolution, digital data processing, etc". Identified only as a "TV unit for missile guidance", the seeker was first shown at the 'Partners 2004' exhibition. GROM-B uses the same aircraft interface as the AGM-65B, so it can be carried by all aircraft wired for the US missile.
The LVB-250F (Laserski Vodjena Bomba, 250 kg, Fugasna [Laser Guided Bomb, 250 kg, high-explosive]) was recently developed by the VTI, but according to one source exists only as a prototype. Like the GROM-B, it was first shown publicly at 'Partners 2005', but its actuator section and the housing for the seeker were exhibited a year earlier at 'Partners 2004'.
The payload of the LVB-250F is the locally produced FAB-250 'iron' bomb. This exists in two versions - the M79 low-drag general-purpose bomb designed for attacking a range of non-hardened targets such as industrial facilities, buildings, railway complexes, personnel and material, and the M72, a relatively high-drag fragmentation bomb designed for use as an anti-personnel and anti-material weapon.
http://www.janes.com/aerospace/military/news/jmr/jmr050512_1_n.shtml
By Seymour Johnson
A television (TV)-guided air-to-surface missile and a laser-guided bomb (LGB) have been developed by Serbia and Montenegro.
The TV-guided missile is based on the earlier GROM ('Thunder' in Serbian), a radio-command guided weapon developed during the 1980s and 1990s. This was based on the Russian Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry') command-guided missile, which was already in service with the Yugoslav Air Force.
According to one source, the TV-guided GROM-B was developed by the VTI (Vojno-Tehnicki Institut) during the late 1990s, while another dates the project to 1996. The designation 'GROM-2' has also been reported for this variant, but since examples of the earlier command-guided version have been seen with the marking 'GROM-02', this reported alternative designation for the new TV-guided weapon may be incorrect.
The nose-mounted TV seeker is based on that of the AGM-65B Maverick air-to-surface missile, which had been sold to the former Yugoslavia. During the 1991 war with Croatia, the Yugoslav Air Force retrofitted its SOKO G-4 Super Galeb aircraft with AGM-65B Mavericks.
One source told JMR that the new seeker is better than the US original and incorporates "a modern CCD camera with higher resolution, digital data processing, etc". Identified only as a "TV unit for missile guidance", the seeker was first shown at the 'Partners 2004' exhibition. GROM-B uses the same aircraft interface as the AGM-65B, so it can be carried by all aircraft wired for the US missile.
The LVB-250F (Laserski Vodjena Bomba, 250 kg, Fugasna [Laser Guided Bomb, 250 kg, high-explosive]) was recently developed by the VTI, but according to one source exists only as a prototype. Like the GROM-B, it was first shown publicly at 'Partners 2005', but its actuator section and the housing for the seeker were exhibited a year earlier at 'Partners 2004'.
The payload of the LVB-250F is the locally produced FAB-250 'iron' bomb. This exists in two versions - the M79 low-drag general-purpose bomb designed for attacking a range of non-hardened targets such as industrial facilities, buildings, railway complexes, personnel and material, and the M72, a relatively high-drag fragmentation bomb designed for use as an anti-personnel and anti-material weapon.
http://www.janes.com/aerospace/military/news/jmr/jmr050512_1_n.shtml
