A B-52 bomber has dropped a GBU-12 laser guided bomb from the new Conventional Rotary Launcher for the first time on Aug. 28.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Skyler McCloyn and Staff Sgt. Nathan Ehardt load a GBU-12 laser guided bomb onto a Conventional Rotary Launcher in the bomb bay of a B-52 Stratofortress at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, Aug. 20, 2019. McCloyn and Ehardt are members of a weapons load crew assigned to the 307th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. The 307th AMXS teamed up with their active duty counterparts at the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron to determine the feasibility of using the CRL to drop LGB’s. It was the first operational test of its kind. (U.S. Air Force photo by Greg Steele)
This is also the first time in nearly a decade that the bomber has dropped a laser guided bomb.
Previously, the method was carried out using a cluster bomb rack system but there were safety concerns with that approach.
