NORTHROPGRUMMAN is to demonstrate a bomb-damage-assessment system which consists of a video camera tethered 300m behind the munition to transmit images throughout the weapon's flight to the target.
The US Air Force has awarded the company a $480,000 contract to supply its Munition-Deployed Bomb Damage Assessment sensors, integrated into GBU-10 laser-guided-bomb tailkits, for flight testing at Eglin AFB, Florida, between October and April 1998.
Northrop Grumman says that the system consists of a video sensor in an aerodynamic body which separates after weapon release and trails the bomb to its target, sending images back to the launch aircraft, another airborne platform or a ground station, using a datalink.
The 300m tether means that the sensor will be able to capture and transmit images of the weapon's impact for bomb damage to be assessed.
Source: Flight International