USAF awards $5.2m contract for new warheads
General Dynamics has launched production of a new class of more accurate and destructive 2,130kg (4,700lb) GBU-28C/B penetrator bombs for the US Air Force. The company has been awarded a $5.2 million contract to start building 71 new BLU-122 warheads, an improved version of the BLU-113 used on existing GBU-28B/B bunker busters.
Raytheon is a major supplier on the programme, having received a $10.4 million contract in February to deliver Enhanced Paveway III guidance control units and tail kits for the first of three expected production orders. The USAF's Air Armament Center (AAC) will pay almost $100 million over five years to complete development and production of the new weapon, according to acquisition planning documents.
The AAC plans to integrate the weapon with the USAF's Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber using the existing interface for the GBU-28B/B. Integration on its Boeing F-15E strike fleet will be achieved using the smart unknown weapon interface developed for Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition programme. The air force has designed the new penetrator to greatly improve effectiveness against the "highest-priority assets" that are also in hardened bunkers and difficult to destroy.
The BLU-122 warhead is strengthened to improve penetration, lethality and survivability. A joint programmable fuze will be added in the future, hardwired to the weapon's 1760 databus interface to allow the pilot to change fuze settings after take-off.
The GBU-28C/B will also be improved by adding a laser guidance system, enabling the USAF to use the heavy penetrator in poor weather conditions.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE/WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
