Profile
- Type
- 1,000-pound laser-guided bomb
- Conflict side
- Yemeni government and coalition forces
- Origin
- United States
- Service note
- Paveway II family in service from the 1970s; documented in Yemen Civil War remnant investigations from 2016
Munitions
GBU-16 Paveway II
The GBU-16 Paveway II is a U.S.-origin laser-guided bomb that combines a 1,000-pound Mk 83-class bomb body with a Paveway II guidance kit. In the Yemen Civil War, human-rights and munitions investigators identified likely GBU-16 remnants from Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrikes, making it part of the conflict's documented air-delivered precision-munition record.
- Conflict side
- Yemeni government and coalition forces
- Built by
- Raytheon and Lockheed Martin
- Built in
- United States
Service History
- In service
- Air-launched precision munition requiring laser designation of the target.
- Used by
- Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps
- Wars
- Yemen Civil War
Production History
- Designer
- Texas Instruments Paveway lineage; later Raytheon and Lockheed Martin production
- Designed
- 1970s Paveway II family
- Built by
- Raytheon and Lockheed Martin
- Built in
- United States
- Produced
- Paveway II kits remain in production in modernized forms
- Variants
- GBU-16 Paveway II, Paveway II Plus GBU-16 Mk 83 configuration
Specifications
- Weight class
- 1,000 lb / 453.5 kg class
- Warhead
- Mk 83 or equivalent 1,000-pound general-purpose bomb body
- Guidance
- Semi-active laser Paveway II guidance kit with forward control group and rear airfoil group
- Launch domain
- Air-to-surface free-fall guided bomb
- Related Paveway II family
- GBU-12 uses a 500-pound bomb body; GBU-10 uses a 2,000-pound bomb body
Conflict Usage
- Yemen Civil War
- Side: Yemeni government and coalition forcesRole: Coalition air-delivered precision strike bomb
Mwatana, the University Network for Human Rights, and PAX reported that Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces likely used GBU-16 Paveway II bombs with Mk 83 warheads in 2016 Yemen airstrikes, including attacks in Hudaydah governorate; OSMP separately indexes Yemen remnants as GBU-16 Paveway II-series air-delivered bombs.
GBU-16 Paveway II Images
Related Weapon Systems
GBU-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 kit family built around a Paveway III seeker and tail assembly for Mk 84 or BLU-109-class bomb bodies. In the Yemen Civil War, rights monitors and munitions specialists documented GBU-24 or Paveway III-series remnants after Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrikes, making it part of the coalition precision-strike record while leaving some variant details dependent on fragmentary battlefield evidence.
Mk 82 fitted with a Paveway- or Lizard-series guidance kit500-pound guided air-delivered bombA Mk 82 500-pound bomb fitted with a Paveway- or Lizard-series guidance kit becomes a laser-guided precision bomb. In the Israel-Hamas War, open-source reporting documented Gaza remnants marked for use on Mk82, tying this configuration to Israeli airstrikes.
AGM-154 JSOWAir-launched guided glide bombThe AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon is a U.S.-built, 1,000-pound-class air-launched guided glide bomb that gives carrier and tactical aircraft a GPS/INS-guided standoff option against fixed land targets. In the Yemen Civil War archive it is represented through documented U.S. Navy F/A-18 loadouts for strikes against Houthi forces during the 2025 Red Sea escalation.
Al-Mandab-1 anti-ship cruise missileAnti-ship cruise missileAl-Mandab-1 is the Houthi designation for a Chinese C-801-family anti-ship cruise missile. Open-source reporting ties it to pre-war Yemeni stocks and shows Houthi forces fielding it during the Yemen Civil War, while the exact C-801 or C-802 variant remains uncertain.
Al-Mandab-2 anti-ship cruise missileAnti-ship cruise missileAl-Mandab-2 is the Houthi designation for a long-range anti-ship cruise missile used in the Yemen Civil War against Red Sea shipping. UN reporting described it as a seven-meter, 300-kilometer system with micro-turbojet propulsion and noted strong external similarities to the C-802 and Iran's Ghader/Ghadir family.
ALARM anti-radiation missileAir-launched anti-radiation missileALARM is a British air-launched anti-radiation missile built for suppression of enemy air defenses, using pre-planned navigation and passive radar homing with direct and parachute-loiter attack modes. In the Yemen Civil War record, it appears as a UK-supplied Royal Saudi Air Force munition used during Saudi-led coalition air operations rather than as a fully documented radar-kill case.Sources
Direct Attack WeaponsPublisher: Naval Air Systems Command | Note: Supports background and specifications for laser-guided bombs, including the GBU-16 as a 1,000-pound bomb modified with a common Paveway II laser guidance kit. | Accessed: 2026-06-20U.S. Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin Paveway II Plus ContractPublisher: Lockheed Martin | Note: Supports manufacturer background and the GBU-16 Mk 83 1,000-pound Paveway II configuration. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Paveway BombPublisher: RTX | Note: Supports Raytheon manufacturer background and the Paveway family role in converting unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Day of Judgment: The Role of the US and Europe in Civilian Death, Destruction, and Trauma in YemenPublisher: Mwatana for Human Rights, University Network for Human Rights, and PAX | Note: In the Yemen Civil War, the report says GBU-16 Paveway II bombs with Mk 83 warheads were likely used by Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces in Yemen airstrikes, including the Al-Honood and Dir Al Hajari cases. | Accessed: 2026-06-20GBU-16 Paveway II SeriesPublisher: Open Source Munitions Portal | Note: Supports background by documenting Yemen-located GBU-16 Paveway II-series air-delivered bomb remnants classified as Mk 83-series, 1,000-pound guided munitions. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Sailors Arm a GBU-16 Paveway IIPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and public-domain licensing context for the primary GBU-16 Paveway II image. | Accessed: 2026-06-20GBU-16 Paveway Loading ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and public-domain licensing context for GBU-16 Paveway II munitions being loaded. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Loading a GBU-16 onto an F/A-18CPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and public-domain licensing context for a U.S. Navy GBU-16 loading photograph. | Accessed: 2026-06-20GBU-16 Assembly Station ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and CC BY 2.0 licensing context for a U.S. Navy GBU-16 assembly photograph. | Accessed: 2026-06-20