Munitions

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit

Also known as
  • GBU-15
  • EGBU-15
  • Enhanced GBU-15
  • GBU-15(V)/B
  • GBU-15 GWS
  • GBU-15 Guided Weapon System
  • GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System
  • Modular Guided Weapon System
  • MGWS
  • AGM-112A
  • AGM-112B

The GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit is a U.S. electro-optical glide bomb built around a 2,000-pound Mk 84 or BLU-109 bomb body, with television or imaging-infrared guidance and a man-in-the-loop data link. U.S. Air Force, museum, and Air University sources document F-111F use in Desert Storm, F-15E drops during Operation Deliberate Force, enhanced GPS/INS-equipped GBU-15 combat employment in Operation Enduring Freedom, and current deployment only from the F-15E Strike Eagle.

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit, Air-to-surface guided glide bomb, Munitions
Image source: GBU-15 xxl.jpg

Role in Conflicts

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
United States
Type
Air-to-surface guided glide bomb
Service note
1983-present
Designer
Rockwell International
Designed
1974
Unit cost
TV seeker: $242,500; imaging infrared seeker: $245,000

Specifications

Length
12 ft 10.5 in (3.91 m)
Launch weight
2,500 lb (1,125 kg)
Diameter
18 in (45.7 cm)
Wingspan
4 ft 11 in (1.49 m)
Range
5-15 nautical miles
Ceiling
30,000-plus feet (9,091 m)
Guidance
Television or imaging infrared seeker with man-in-the-loop control; enhanced versions added GPS/INS
Attack modes
Pre-release lock-on direct attack or post-release remote-control indirect attack
Major components
Forward guidance section, warhead adapter, control module, airfoil components, and weapon data link
Warhead options
Mk 84 general-purpose or BLU-109 penetrating bombs
Variants

The GBU-15 family combined modular guidance, warhead, control-airfoil, and data-link components; the enhanced EGBU-15 added GPS/INS guidance to the electro-optical glide-bomb family.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
GBU-15(V)1/BTelevision-guided Mk 84 configuration

Designation-Systems identifies the (V)1/B as the initial daylight television-seeker model using the 2,000-pound Mk 84-class warhead, with full operational status in 1983.

Sources: Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

GBU-15(V)2/BImaging-infrared Mk 84 configuration

Designation-Systems identifies the (V)2/B as the imaging-infrared seeker version, with the same basic warhead and control components as the (V)1/B.

Sources: Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

GBU-15(V)31/BTelevision-guided BLU-109 configuration

Designation-Systems describes the BLU-109 versions as short-chord-wing configurations and identifies the (V)31/B as the television-guided BLU-109 variant.

Sources: Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

GBU-15(V)32/BImaging-infrared BLU-109 configuration

Designation-Systems identifies the (V)32/B as the imaging-infrared BLU-109 configuration in the GBU-15 family.

Sources: Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

EGBU-15GPS/INS-enhanced GBU-15

The Air Force fact sheet says many legacy GBU-15 weapons received GPS/INS guidance upgrades in 1999-2000, and Designation-Systems treats EGBU-15 as the enhanced designation.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

Carrier Aircraft

The Air Force identifies the F-15E, F-111F, and F-4 as design aircraft for the GBU-15, while noting that current Air Force deployment is only from the F-15E Strike Eagle.

CarrierCarrier typeCarriage evidence
F-15E Strike Eagle, Dual-role strike fighter, Aircraft & UAVsF-15E Strike EagleStrike fighter

The Air Force fact sheet says the GBU-15 is currently deployed only from the F-15E Strike Eagle.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

F-4 Phantom II, Twin-engine, two-seat supersonic fighter-bomber, Aircraft & UAVsF-4 Phantom IIFighter-bomber

The Air Force fact sheet lists the F-4 among the aircraft for which the GBU-15 was designed, and the gallery includes a 1985 F-4E GBU-15 drop image.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, F-4E 3rd TFW dropping GBU-15 1985.JPEG

Unlinked carrier evidence

Air Force and museum sources document F-111F Desert Storm employment, but this record does not link an F-111 page because no matching public catalog entry was found during duplicate checks.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact Sheet

Bomb Body Compatibility

GBU-15 kits were built as modular guidance and control assemblies attached to a 2,000-pound general-purpose or penetrator bomb body.

Compatible itemItem typeCompatibility evidence
Mk 84 Mod 4 2,000-pound unguided bomb, 2,000-pound unguided general-purpose bomb, MunitionsMk 84 Mod 4 2,000-pound unguided bomb2,000-pound general-purpose bomb body

The Air Force fact sheet says the GBU-15's modular components attach to a Mk 84 general-purpose bomb option.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

BLU-109 penetrator warhead, 2,000-pound hard-target penetrator warhead, MunitionsBLU-109 penetrator warhead2,000-pound penetrating bomb body

The Air Force fact sheet identifies BLU-109 penetrating bombs as the alternate GBU-15 warhead option.

Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

Timeline

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Key Events

  1. Development begins

    The Air Force Development Test Center at Eglin Air Force Base began GBU-15 development as an improved follow-on to earlier electro-optical guided bombs.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

  2. Flight testing begins

    The Air Force fact sheet says GBU-15 flight testing started in 1975.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

  3. Television-guided version enters service

    The legacy television-guided GBU-15 completed full-scale operational test and evaluation in 1983.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

  4. Imaging-infrared seeker reaches test milestone

    The Air Force fact sheet says initial operational test and evaluation of the imaging-infrared seeker was completed in February 1985.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

  5. Desert Storm oil-manifold strikes

    Air Force and museum sources document F-111F employment of GBU-15 glide bombs against Kuwaiti oil manifolds during Operation Desert Storm.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact Sheet

  6. Operation Deliberate Force F-15E drops

    Air University Press records F-15E drops of nine infrared GBU-15 variants against air-defense targets around Banja Luka during Operation Deliberate Force.

    Sources: Deliberate Force Air University Press

  7. GPS/INS upgrade begins

    A large number of legacy weapons began receiving GPS/INS guidance upgrades in 1999-2000, creating the enhanced GBU-15 capability for adverse-weather attacks.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet, Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-Systems

  8. Enhanced version enters combat service

    The Air Force fact sheet says the enhanced GBU-15 entered service in 2001 and was successfully employed in combat supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

    Sources: GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact Sheet

Media

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Images

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit, Air-to-surface guided glide bomb, Munitions - view 1
Source: F-4E 3rd TFW dropping GBU-15 1985.JPEG
GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit, Air-to-surface guided glide bomb, Munitions - view 2
Source: GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact Sheet
Related Weapon Systems
GBU-24 Paveway III, 2,000-pound-class laser-guided bomb, MunitionsMunitionsGBU-24 Paveway III2,000-pound-class laser-guided bombThe GBU-24 Paveway III is a U.S.-origin 2,000-pound-class laser-guided bomb family that combines a Paveway III guidance section and airfoil group with Mk 84, BLU-109, or related hard-target bomb bodies. Official and military-history sources document GBU-24 use in the Gulf War, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and the 2003 Iraq War, while Yemen rights-monitoring sources identify GBU-24 or Paveway III-series remnants from Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrikes where fragmentary evidence can limit exact bomb-body identification.
GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, Air-delivered deep-penetration guided bomb, MunitionsMunitionsGBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance PenetratorAir-delivered deep-penetration guided bombThe GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator is a Boeing-built U.S. Air Force GPS-guided bunker-buster bomb for hardened and deeply buried facilities. Developed from a Defense Threat Reduction Agency technology demonstration and integrated for B-2 Spirit employment, it became operationally documented in June 2025 when U.S. B-2s used 14 weapons against Iranian nuclear target areas during Operation Midnight Hammer, an event tracked in both the catalog's U.S.-Iran and 2025 Israel-Iran conflict scopes.
GBU-69 Small Glide Munition, Guided air-to-surface glide bomb, MunitionsMunitionsGBU-69 Small Glide MunitionGuided air-to-surface glide bombThe GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition is a U.S. special-operations stand-off glide bomb developed by Dynetics, now part of Leidos, for Common Launch Tube carriage on AC-130 gunships and integration on unmanned aircraft. It combines GPS navigation, semi-active laser terminal guidance, fold-out wings, lattice tail controls, and a 36-lb blast-fragmentation warhead in a roughly 60-lb munition. Amnesty International identified GBU-69/B fragments from a November 2017 U.S. strike in Somalia, making Somalia the record's directly sourced conflict-use context.
GBU-28 Paveway III, 5,000-pound laser-guided penetrator bomb, MunitionsMunitionsGBU-28 Paveway III5,000-pound laser-guided penetrator bombThe GBU-28 Paveway III is a U.S. 5,000-pound-class hard-target penetrator bomb rushed into service for Operation Desert Storm and later retained as a specialized air-launched bunker-buster. GAO and Air & Space Forces sources describe a semi-active laser-guided weapon with a 4,400-pound-class penetrator warhead, while later GBU-28B/B and GBU-28C/B variants added GPS/INS guidance and the BLU-122 improved penetrator for all-weather hard-target attack.
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Sources

GBU-15 Guided Bomb Unit Fact SheetPublisher: U.S. Air Force | Note: Supports the GBU-15's role, design aircraft, manufacturer and version split, modular components, guidance modes, dimensions, launch weight, range, ceiling, unit cost, service dates, F-15E-only current deployment, Desert Storm use in the 1990 Gulf War, and enhanced GBU-15 combat employment in Operation Enduring Freedom during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. | Accessed: 2026-07-04GBU-15 Modular Guided Weapon System Museum Fact SheetPublisher: National Museum of the United States Air Force | Note: Supports museum background on the GBU-15's 2,000-pound bomb body, seeker and control-fin configuration, standoff data-link control, Desert Storm use by F-111 aircraft in the 1990 Gulf War, and official image provenance for the museum gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-07-04Rockwell GBU-15(V)/B Designation-SystemsPublisher: Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles | Note: Supports designation history, the unapproved AGM-112A/B missile-designation request, modular MGWS configuration logic, TV and imaging-infrared variants, BLU-109 short-chord variants, GPS/INS-enhanced EGBU-15 context, and AGM-130 family commonality. | Accessed: 2026-07-04Deliberate Force Air University PressPublisher: Air University Press | Note: Supports direct GBU-15 use in Operation Deliberate Force during the 1992 Bosnian War, including F-15E drops of nine infrared GBU-15 variants against air-defense targets around Banja Luka. | Accessed: 2026-07-04FAS GBU-15 Smart WeaponsPublisher: Federation of American Scientists | Note: Corroborates GBU-15 design, guidance, modular components, platform/specification data, and direct 1990 Gulf War use by F-111F aircraft during Desert Storm. | Accessed: 2026-07-04GBU-15 xxl.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Publicly licensed image provenance for the primary GBU-15 gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-07-04F-4E 3rd TFW dropping GBU-15 1985.JPEGPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Publicly licensed image provenance for a second GBU-15 gallery image showing an F-4E drop. | Accessed: 2026-07-04