So much going on here Mate
I'll try my best
REK are basically ins/gps guided strap on kits
Not really, REKs are just the wings. Think like this, in a missile [Fuze+Warhead+Rocket+Guidance] what's contributing to its range? The rocket or the guidance? REKs are the analogous to rockets not the guidance
Mk-83 = dumb bomb
+ JDAM = guided one
+ REK = glide bomb
As for terminal guidance, you don't need any terminal guidance unless you're hitting a moving target. With jam resistant GPS you can easily get CEP of <5m and with a 250kg warhead even a 10m miss wouldn't matter much.
The old bombs are because if they're removed from service then the effective load of jaguars would drop from current maximum of 8 to 5. More or less this was why he used the word carpet bombing.
Also LBGs are the worst choice for area bombing as you'd be needing separate channels to guide each bomb, otherwise they'll all just hit one point except...well and area. GPS guided (glide or non glide) bombs are the perfect choice for it as you can make a grid of GPS coordinates.
One thing I would like to correct is that PGHSLD is nothing like a regular LGB, PGHSLD has ins/gps and is much better.
Absolutely wrong my Guy
The current Paveway series started in mid 60s, way before GPS. Not to mention the fact that it's been hardly 2-3 decades since GPS became miniature, cheap and rugged enough to be used in munitions. Same goes for INS; RLG & FOG both used to be extremely expensive and large for these kinds of applications and were reserved for more expensive missiles. As soon as INS improved followed by GPS, almost all the LGBs started to be dual-mode. L-JDAM tested in 2004 were dual mode and so were the Paveway IV, developed in 2006. You know what, even the Griffin kits we've are dual mode.
Let's talk about the typical ROE of a SEAD mission.
Traditionally you'd have an aircraft flying with ARMs and a slightly better RWR; that's it. RWR gets lighted as a Christmas Tree and fire an ARM at that general direction and as soon as the missile leaves the rail you start doing evasive maneuvers. A more modern version is when you have a complicated system that automatically converts ELINT into precise GPS coordinates and release multiple GPS guided bombs targeting multiple different locations at the same time.
In case of a LGB, you'd need to point a laser on all the different radar systems at once all while doing 7g evasive maneuvers.
How are you going to achieve that?
something happened with PG-HSLD
As for what happened to PG-HSLD the answer is most probably that people realised LGBs are slowly losing their significance.
• You can't use a LGB or even a missile on tanks now as in future every tank would have an APS and your laser would trigger it from some 15km away
• You can't do a fire-n-forget mission with LGB as your wingman needs to continuously keep pointing a laser dot on the target untill it has been hit so no evasive maneuvers.
• For moving targets we've much better systems of guidance like IIR that's completely passive so doesn't trigger any sensor and is fire-n-forget.
• And for fixed targets, jam resistant GPS has already become so matured that you can get LGB levels of precision. ~1m CEP
• For LGB you'd need either the launch platform or an UAV or a ground team to get close (~15km) enough to illuminate the target. We've already covered planes and for UAVs you'd be inside the range of enemy ADS. Infiltration by ground team is extremely difficult and risky.
The only option left for LGBs are basically targets that can't fire back...COIN operations. And slowly the world is moving away from COIN phase (Syria, Afghanistan) to LSCO phase (China, Ukraine).
