Ground-directed bombing

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Ground-directed bombing (GDB) is a military tactic for airstrikes by ground-attack aircraft, strategic bombers, and other equipped air vehicles under command guidance from aviation ground support equipment and/or ground personnel (e.g., ground observers). Often used in poor weather and at night (75% of all Vietnam War bombings "were done with precision [sic] GDB"),^[1] the tactic was superseded by an airborne computer predicting unguided bomb impact from data provided by precision avionics (e.g., GPS, GPS/INS, etc.) Equipment for radar GDB generally included a combination ground radar/computer/communication system ("Q" system) and aircraft avionics for processing radioed commands.^[2]

A 21st century variant of ground-directed bombing is the radio command guidance for armed unmanned aerial vehicles to effect ground-directed release of ordnance (e.g., precision-guided munitions for bombing such as the AGM-114 Hellfire).^[3]