Meng 1/48 US LGBs and ARMs Set First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

I recently ordered the newly released Meng 1/48 F/A-18F Super Hornet kit and noted that this weapons set was released at the same time, so I bought a set as well. I should have taken the time to find a better description of the set and/or image as I was left with the impression that this set was for the Super Hornets from Meng. Technically, they are kinda/sorta useful for those kits, but more on that shortly.

Meng's US Laser-Guided Bomb (LGB) and Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) set is molded in gray styrene and presented on seven parts trees plus one tree of clear parts. The weapons provided include the following:

• 2 x AGM-65 Maverick
• 2 x AGM-78 Standard ARM
• 2 x AGM-88 HARM
• 2 x GBU-10
• 2 x GBU-12
• 2 x GBU-16
• 2 x GBU-24

A few items of note:

• The F/A-18E/F Super Hornets were required to be able to employ legacy weapons, so many of these weapon types would have been used early in the Super Hornets' service.
• The AGM-65 is technically not an LGB nor ARM. but the Super Hornet and Super Harrier were both users of the AGM-65E laser-guided missile, so close enough for government work.
• The GBU-10/12/16 Paveway II and GBU-24 Paveway III have all been carried by the Super Hornets, but none of these are molded with the textured thermal coating required for shipboard use.
• This set provides two AGM-78 Standard ARM missiles that were never used on the Super Hornet. You can use these on the A-6B/E Intruder, F-105G Thunderchief, or F-4G Wild Weasel.

Since most of the previously released weapons sets have included these same weapons, I had (mistakenly) thought that Meng was going to give us more current armament such as the GBU-31/GBU-32/GBU-38 JDAMS as well as the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb and the AGM-88G ARGM-ER. Perhaps someone will step up with some updated weapons sets, but if you're looking for the 'old stuff', this is another option for you.