Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
Marconi Electronic Systems' Diamond Back wing kit is to be flight tested on the Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the Boeing Small Smart Bomb (SSB) within the next two years, in a bid to extend the range of a new family of smart bombs.
The JDAM flight demonstration, scheduled for early next year, is funded by the US Navy, Boeing and Marconi Electronic Systems.
The JDAM consists of an inertial guidance kit in a modified tailcone, fitted to the Mk83 and Mk84 454kg (1,000lb) bombs and the BLU-109 450kg tactical munition dispenser. The range is about 28km (17 miles) when dropped from high altitude. A wing kit could extend that to 65-110km. The US military could procure up to 87,000 JDAMs and 22,000 wing kits. The SSB emerged from the US Air Force's Miniaturised Munition Technology Demonstration, in which Boeing demonstrated a 115kg smart bomb with a range of 20km.
Boeing, teamed with Marconi Electronic Systems, beat three competitors, including a Northrop Grumman/Leigh Aerosystems team, for a $2.75 million 18-month contract to conduct an SSB range extension demonstration. The range extension work, culminating with three flight tests, could triple the SSB's range.
The USAF has decided to merge the SSB project and the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) demonstration into a single programme, dubbed the Miniature Munition Capability (MMC), which will begin in 2003. In the interim, the SSB and LOCAAS, designed to attack fixed and mobile targets, respectively, will continue on separate development tracks. USAF officials say it remains to be seen whether the two programmes can be blended.
The USAF plans to award as many as four short-term study contracts to support the ongoing analysis of MMC alternatives. SSB programme manager Maj Peter Van Wirt plans an SSB guided flight test demonstration starting in 2001. A seeker would be introduced to verify target location during the terminal flight phase.
Source: Flight International
