Direct proof of use
Paveway-family laser-guided bombs are directly documented in the 1990 Gulf War through postwar U.S. government data and contemporary precision-munition analysis. GAO's Operation Desert Storm air-campaign evaluation lists 9,271 laser-guided bomb expenditures in Desert Storm, including GBU-10, GBU-12, GBU-16, GBU-24, GBU-24/109, GBU-27, and two GBU-28 weapons.
Air Power Australia identifies the main Paveway lines used in the Gulf as Texas Instruments Paveway II-family GBU-10, GBU-12, and GBU-14 kits, supplemented by Paveway III GBU-24 and GBU-27 weapons. The same account says RAF aircraft used a Paveway II kit on British 1,000-pound bombs.
Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, Desert Storm Precision Guided Munitions
Timeline
The documented combat-use window was the Operation Desert Storm air campaign from January 17 to February 28, 1991. Paveway bombs were part of the coalition's guided-munition inventory during that air campaign, with GAO's table recording thousands of laser-guided bomb expenditures across several GBU designations.
During the campaign, Paveway-family weapons were used from multiple aircraft and for more than one target set. Air Power Australia describes U.S. Paveway II and Paveway III use, RAF Paveway II use from Tornado operations supported by Buccaneer or TIALD laser designation, and F-111F use of GBU-12s against dug-in Iraqi tanks in the later ground-war preparation period.
Sources: GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign, Desert Storm Precision Guided Munitions
Operational role
In the 1990 Gulf War, Paveway bombs served as coalition air-to-surface precision weapons for interdiction, attacks on hardened or fixed targets, and battlefield strikes. Air Power Australia describes GBU-24A/B Paveway III with BLU-109 penetrator warheads for hard-target attack, GBU-27 as the F-117A-carried derivative, and GBU-28 as an improvised earth-penetrating Paveway-family weapon used at the end of the air campaign.
The GBU-27 record preserved by GulfLINK gives a direct F-117 connection: it describes the GBU-27 as a GBU-24 derivative modified for the F-117 stealth fighter, says it used a 2,000-pound penetrating warhead against hard targets, and states that the weapon was used in Operation Desert Storm.
The sourced record separates scale from performance claims. GAO records the number of laser-guided bombs expended and notes that LGBs were far fewer than unguided bombs, while also cautioning that the Desert Storm record did not validate broad one-target, one-bomb claims for Paveway III and other laser-guided bombs.
Sources: Desert Storm Precision Guided Munitions, GulfLINK GBU-27, GAO Operation Desert Storm Air Campaign
