Profile
- Type
- 2,000-pound-class laser-guided bomb
- Conflict side
- Yemeni government and coalition forces
- Origin
- United States
- Service note
- Introduced in the 1980s; documented in Yemen Civil War airstrike remnants in 2015
Munitions
GBU-24 Paveway III
The 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.
- Conflict side
- Yemeni government and coalition forces
- Built by
- Raytheon
- Built in
- United States
Service History
- In service
- In service from the 1980s
- Used by
- Saudi/UAE-led coalition forces, Royal Saudi Air Force, United Arab Emirates Air Force, United States Air Force
- Wars
- Yemen Civil War
Production History
- Designer
- Texas Instruments / Raytheon
- Designed
- Early 1980s
- Built by
- Raytheon
- Built in
- United States
- Produced
- 1980s-present in Paveway III family production and sustainment
- Variants
- GBU-24/B with Mk 84-class general-purpose bomb body, GBU-24A/B or related BLU-109 penetrator configurations, Enhanced Paveway III variants with GPS/INS-aided guidance
Specifications
- Guidance
- Semi-active laser guidance with Paveway III proportional navigation; enhanced variants add GPS/INS
- Warhead
- 2,000-pound-class Mk 84 general-purpose or BLU-109 penetrator bomb body, depending on variant
- Weight
- About 2,200 to 2,315 lb depending on configuration
- Length
- 14 ft 5 in
- Wingspan
- 6 ft 8 in
- Range
- More than 10 miles, dependent on release conditions
- Major components
- Laser seeker/guidance control unit, BSU-84 airfoil group, fuze, adapter group, and bomb body
Conflict Usage
- Yemen Civil War
- Side: Yemeni government and coalition forcesRole: Coalition air-launched precision strike munition
Mwatana and OSMP document GBU-24 or Paveway III-series remnants from 2015 Saudi/UAE-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, including a likely GBU-24 at a Sanaa residential strike; the sources identify coalition air use but do not always determine the exact bomb-body variant from remnants alone.
GBU-24 Paveway III Images
Related Weapon Systems
GBU-16 Paveway II1,000-pound laser-guided bombThe 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.
Joint Direct Attack Munition / JDAM-guided bombGPS/INS-guided bomb conversion kitThe Joint Direct Attack Munition is a Boeing-built tail-kit family that converts Mark 80-series and related free-fall bombs into GPS/INS-guided weapons. In the United States-Iran Conflict, U.S. forces used JDAM-guided bombs for stand-in precision strikes after air-defense degradation made overhead bombing missions more practical than relying only on standoff munitions.
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
GBU-24 Paveway III Fact SheetPublisher: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force | Note: Supports background, BLU-109 configuration context, range, dimensions, and the primary display image provenance. | Accessed: 2026-06-20GBU-24 Paveway III ArtworkPublisher: U.S. Air Force | Note: Supports dimensions, approximate weight, range, and public-domain image provenance for the side-view artwork. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Raytheon Paveway III PhotoPublisher: Hill Air Force Base | Note: Supports Raytheon/Texas Instruments background and public-domain image provenance for a GBU-24/B display photo. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Paveway BombPublisher: RTX Raytheon | Note: Supports manufacturer background for the Paveway laser-guided bomb family and enhanced GPS/INS guidance context. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Saudi Arabia Air-to-Ground Munitions Sale NotificationPublisher: Federal Register | Note: Supports specifications, Saudi procurement context, and the GBU-24 Paveway III use of FMU-139A/B fuze, BSU-84 airfoil, WGU-43C/B guidance control unit, and Mk 84 or BLU-109 bomb bodies. | Accessed: 2026-06-20US Weapons Responsible for Civilian Deaths in YemenPublisher: Mwatana for Human Rights | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War conflict use: a GBU-24 Paveway III was used by Saudi/UAE-led coalition jets in Yemen according to remnants assessed by arms experts. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Day of JudgmentPublisher: Mwatana for Human Rights, University Network for Human Rights, and PAX | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War conflict use: a likely GBU-24 Paveway III was used by Saudi/UAE-led coalition jets in a September 2015 Sanaa strike, with remnants marked for Raytheon-associated parts. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Yemen Open Source Munitions PortalPublisher: Open Source Munitions Portal | Note: Supports Yemen Civil War conflict use: GBU-24 Paveway III-series and Paveway III kit remnants were used by air forces conducting strikes in Yemen, while OSMP cautions that some remnants alone do not determine the exact bomb body. | Accessed: 2026-06-20Paveway III Laser Guided Bomb Seeker Head ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and public-domain licensing for the Paveway III seeker-head gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-06-20