physics

Pave Penny

Pave Penny is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pave Penny rather than just read about it. In short: The Lockheed Martin AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny is a laser spot tracker carried by US Air Force attack aircraft and fighter-bombers enabling them to track a laser spot on the ground. It is a receiver only, allowing the pilot to see which targets are marked by a laser designator.

Key takeaways

Pave Penny belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pave Penny to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pave Penny from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Lockheed Martin AN/AAS-35(V) Pave Penny is a laser spot tracker carried by US Air Force attack aircraft and fighter-bombers enabling them to track a laser spot on the ground. It is a receiver only, allowing the pilot to see which targets are marked by a laser designator. Pave Penny does not produce a laser beam and cannot be used to designate targets, designed for use with laser designators on the ground or on other aircraft. PAVE was later used as an backronym meaning Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment.

Description Developed in the mid-1970s, Pave Penny was based on the earlier AN/AVQ-11 Pave Sword laser tracker used on USAF F-4 Phantom IIs during the Vietnam War, miniaturized using solid-state electronics. The compact 31 in (79 cm) pod weighing only 32 lb (15 kg) is a simple laser spot tracker that searches for reflected laser light from other laser designators (used by friendly air or ground forces) and displays that target information on the aircraft head-up display (HUD). Unlike the laser ranger and marked target seeker systems common to European aircraft, or the more sophisticated AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR, TIALD, and LANTIRN designators, Pave Penny does not contain a laser. It can recognize specific laser designation signals based on pre-determined four-digit codes encoded into the laser pulse, allowing it to seek out particular targets and ignore others (to avoid, for example, several aircraft hitting the same target). There is no range-finding capability. The Pave Penny's nominal range is 20 mi (32 km), although effective range is considerably shorter. The Pave Penny pod was used by USAF A-7D Corsair II aircraft, fuselage-mounted beneath the engine intake, and the A-10 Thunderbolt II, mounted on an external pylon designed specifically for the pod. It was also previously used by some F-16C/D Fighting Falcon aircraft, although most now use the LANTIRN system instead, permitting self-designation. Some Pave Penny pods were also supplied to Singapore, where they were used on A-4SU Super Skyhawks.

Illustrations

Pave Penny: An A-10 Thunderbolt II's Pave Penny pod. — An A-10 Thunderbolt II's Pave Penny pod.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pave Penny

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pave Penny claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pave Penny before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pave Penny ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pave Penny

In research: Pave Penny appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pave Penny in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pave Penny is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Equipment of the United States Air Force, Military electronics of the United States, Military equipment introduced in the 1970s, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pave Penny outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pave Penny in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pave Penny means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pave Penny out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pave Penny in simple terms?

Why does Pave Penny matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pave Penny?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pave Penny.