Direct proof of use
The GBU-24 Paveway III is directly documented in the 2003 Iraq War through Operation Iraqi Freedom munitions-expenditure records. CENTAF's Operation Iraqi Freedom airpower summary lists 23 GBU-24 laser-guided bombs among guided munitions expended during the opening campaign.
Human Rights Watch reproduced the same figure in its appendix on weapons used in the Iraq air war, identifying the munition as the GBU-24 Paveway III 2,000-pound laser-guided bomb. The public aggregate record proves that the weapon was expended by coalition air forces, but it does not assign individual GBU-24 releases to named aircraft, targets, or locations.
Sources: CENTAF OIF By The Numbers, HRW Iraq Air War Weapons
Timeline
CENTAF bounded its initial Operation Iraqi Freedom airpower report to 0300Z on 19 March 2003 through 0259Z on 18 April 2003. Within that reporting period, its munitions section records the GBU-24 as part of the guided-weapon inventory actually expended in the air campaign.
Human Rights Watch published its Iraq civilian-casualty report in December 2003 and used the same air-war weapons data in its appendix, listing the GBU-24 Paveway III among laser-guided bombs used in the campaign.
Sources: CENTAF OIF By The Numbers, HRW Iraq Air War Weapons
Narrative
In the Iraq War record, the GBU-24's documented role was air-delivered precision strike by the United States and coalition side. NAVAIR describes the GBU-24 as a 2,000-pound BLU-series hard-target penetrator in the laser-guided bomb family, while Air & Space Forces Magazine describes the Paveway III design as a laser-guided free-fall bomb for surface targets from medium standoff range.
The OIF expenditure table places the GBU-24 within a broader guided-munitions mix that included other Paveway laser-guided bombs and JDAMs. RTX Raytheon's Paveway background states that Paveway bombs made up more than half of air-to-ground precision-guided weapons used in Operation Iraqi Freedom, but the specific GBU-24 conflict-use claim rests on the CENTAF and Human Rights Watch expenditure records.
Because the available public sources are aggregate munitions summaries, this record treats the supported claim as 23 GBU-24 Paveway III laser-guided bombs expended during the opening air campaign. It does not infer exact target categories, damage effects, delivery aircraft, or individual incidents beyond what the cited sources state.
Sources: CENTAF OIF By The Numbers, HRW Iraq Air War Weapons, NAVAIR Direct Attack Weapons, GBU-24/28 Paveway III, Raytheon Paveway Bomb
