GEC-MARCONI Dynamics wants to interest McDonnell Douglas (MDC)in a wing kit to expand the footprint of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).
The company has already worked with MDC on windtunnel testing of its Diamond Back wing kit under the US Air Force's Small Smart Bomb (SSB) programme.
The Diamond Back wing kit is a strap-on kit with a fold-out joined wing. The diamond design, with two high-aspect-ratio wings joined at the tips, locates the wing centre of pressure at the bomb centre of gravity and provides flutter resistance at high speeds, says John Shmoldas, who is senior manager for new business, at Westlake Village, California-based GEC-Marconi Dynamics.
The short-span wing is strong and easy to fold, he has told visitors to the US Air Force 50th anniversary exhibition in Las Vegas, held on 23-25 April.
The wing kit increases the stand-off range and cross-track manoeuvrability of the bomb, expanding its footprint to enable multiple widely separated targets to be attacked from a single release point, the company says. Target cost is less than $10,000, says Shmoldas, and the kit is compact enough to still allow internal carriage of the bomb.
Transonic windtunnel-testing of a 40% scale model has been conducted under the SSB programme, for which MDC is the prime contractor. Full-scale windtunnel tests are planned for early 1998 and GEC-Marconi Dynamics has proposed a flight-test demonstration.
The Air Force is now drafting its requirement for an SSB, and the company is hoping that the Diamond Back wing kit will be included. Another potential application is on the Air Force's Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser, says Shmoldas.
The Diamond Back kit may also be offered as part of a GEC proposal to meet a UK Ministry of Defence requirement to provide a range and accuracy improvement to some of its war stock of 450kg and 225kg iron bombs.
Source: Flight International