GBU-8
electro-optical guided bomb
The GBU-8 Homing Bomb System (HOBOS) is a 2,000 lb (910 kg) electro-optical guided bomb developed for the United States Air Force.
Description
The GBU-8 consists of a contrast seeker in the nose section, four cruciform tailfins with flying surfaces for control, strakes connecting the tailfins with the nose section, and a 2000 lb Mk. 84 low-drag general-purpose bomb. The same type of guidance kit was also attached to a 3000 lb Mark 118 bomb, where it was designated GBU-9.
History
Development of the Homing Bomb System (HOBOS) by Rockwell began in 1967 on the request of the U.S. Air Force in response to shortcomings of the AGM-62 Walleye during the Vietnam War. The payload of the 2000 lb Mk. 84 bomb was considered to be more effective than the smaller explosive warhead found on the Walleye, which was designed by the Navy for anti-ship use.
The system was deployed to USAF units at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand in January 1969 and was subsequently used in combat for the first time in February 1969.
The HOBOS system was also used in Operation Linebacker with the 8th TFW once bombing resumed in April 1972. On 27 April 1972, the HOBOS guided bomb was used against the Thanh Hóa Bridge, with five bombs expended.
“GBU-8” enters the record as electro-optical guided bomb. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what GBU-8, electro-optical and guided can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1484856. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2000, 1967, 1969 and 1972.
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This entry incorporates text from “GBU-8” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.