2000 pound Mk84 weapon fitted with GBU-54 Laser JDAM guidance kit loaded on an F-16 at Eglin Air Force Base, prior to a test flight in July 2010. The Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS) at the tip of the weapon is covered, to minimize wear of the transparent window protecting the seeker. Photo: Boeing

Boeing completed the first pair of seven flight tests of the MK-84 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (Laser JDAM) this summer at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., as part of the new weapon qualification process. Integration of Laser JDAM will provide these heavy warheads with pinpoint strike precision, utilizing redundant navigation and guidance modes the guidance kit will enable midcourse GPS and terminal laser guidance, providing more effective, flexible attack modes.

In these recent tests the 2,000-pound weapon will engage fixed, relocatable and moving targets. During the first two tests performed in July 2010 two inert MK-84 Laser JDAM weapons were released from an F-16 flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet and a speed of Mach 0.95. Both weapons flew a series of aggressive, preprogrammed maneuvers to verify their maneuverability and aerodynamic performance.

An existing JDAM becomes a Laser JDAM with the installation of the Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS). “By adding the PLGS feature, warfighters can now attack relocatable and moving land and maritime targets with the same precision and reliability that they rely on every day with the existing JDAM.” Explains Kerry Bush, JDAM program manager for Boeing. The company has already qualified a lighter version of Laser JDAM – Guided Bomb Unit GBU-54, armed with the 500 pounds Mk82 bomb. Since fielding the weapon in 1998, Boeing has produced more than 215,000 JDAM guidance kits. Laser JDAM was fielded in 2008 and has since been used in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Pentagon plans to sell Iraq 18 F-16IQ (Block 52) aircraft as part of an arms package worth over $4.2 billion.

The Pentagon is embarking on a new arms transfer to Iraq, this time involving a squadron of advanced versions of the Lockheed Martin F-16IQ – Block 52 fighter jets, supply of 440 refurbished Armored Presonnel Carriers and the establishment of a nationwide defense communications network. The estimated value of the entire package could reach about $4.5 billion.

The package notified to Congress by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency includes 18 F-16IQ fighter jets, worth around $4.2 billion. The aircraft will be delivered with weapons and mission payloads for air defense, strike and reconnaissance missions. These packages will comprise AIM-9L/M 8-9 short range and AIM-7M-F1/H Sparrow Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air/air missiles, and air/ground guided weapons including various types of the AGM-65 Maverick missile and GBU-12 Paveway II and Paveway III laser guided bombs, augmented by Sniper targeting pods.

For the reconnaissance mission the F-16IQs will be equipped by the BAE Systems’ F-9120 Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance Systems (AARS) Long-Range Oblique Photographic System (LOROPS) or the tactical, DB-110 Reconnaissance Pods made by Goodrich. The aircraft will be equipped with a standard Electronic Warfare suite including the ALQ-187 countermeasure package and ALR-93 radar warning receiver comprising the Advanced Countermeasure Electronic Systems (ACES), and AN/ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispensing Systems (CMDS).

Washington also plans to ship 440 refurbished M113A2 Armored Personnel Carriers to Iraq, to equip the Iraqi land forces. The cost of this package is estimated at $131 million. The prime contractor for this upgrade is BAE Systems, the original vehicle manufacturer.

The Pentagon is moving to set up an independent defense network for the Iraqi military, under a 150 million investment that includes design, supply of equipment and technical support. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified congress on the proposed sale, to include the fixed network to be established under a $98 million program and Mobile Communications Centers, worth approximately $57 million. The prime contractors for both systems are ITT Corporation and the Harris Corporation.

Raytheon has developed an all new airframe and wings for the new SDB-53/B Small Diameter Bomb. The weapon was selected for the next generation SDB-2, to enter service in 2014. Photo: Raytheon

The U.S. Air Force has awarded the Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) US$450 million for the development and production of GBU-53/B for the Small Diameter Bomb increment II program. SDB II is the next generation of the lightweight, aerial precision-strike standoff weapon designed with integral capability to accurately strike moving and fixed targets in adverse weather conditions. Raytheon has developed an all-new, streamlined bomb casing and folding swept-wing for the new weapon (shown in the photo above), departing from the MBDA designed ‘Diamond Back’ configuration used by the Boeing designed SDB (photo on left). The SDB family of weapons developed by Boeing quadruples the number of weapons an aircraft can carry, enabling aircrews to attack more targets on each sortie.

Raytheon’s proposal was selected over a competing offer from Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Raytheon will begin producing the new weapons in 2013 with initial deliveries completing the first production lot by late 2014. The GBU-53/B incorporates an three-modal seeker featuring millimeter-wave radar, a semi-active laser (SAL) and an uncooled imaging infrared. The use of an uncooled thermal imager is a unique implementation of such sensor in aerial weapons, demonstrating the maturity and high resolution achieved with bolometric technology. “Our uncooled IIR seeker met all the warfighter’s requirements and reduced the weapon’s total life-cycle cost and logistics footprint” said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. The tri-modal terminal seeker is a derivative from the seeker systems used in the 120mm Medium Range Munition for the M-1A2 tank and the cancelled XM-501 Precision Attack Missile. Raytheon also integrated a new ‘multi effect warhead’ designed to defeat armored targets, structures and soft target in the open with minimal collateral damage.

The SDB II multi-effect warhead defeats armored targets by penetration with shaped charge generated plasma jet. The effect is augmented by blast and fragmentation. Photo: Raytheon

Raytheon conducted a successful technical demonstration program, during which the company tested and verified that its form factored tri-mode seeker could seamlessly transition between modes. The GBU/53-B seeker proved its reliability during flight testing when it flew 26 missions in 21 days without a single hardware failure.

The Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle demonstrator successfully completed its first weapons launch during a July 14 flight at Point Mugu Naval Air Weapon Station, Calif. The Silent Eagle launched an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AIM-120 AMRAAM) from its left-side Conformal Weapons Bay, as seen in this video still. Photo: Boeing

Conformal weapons bay for the F-15SE

The Boeing company conducted a first missile firing test from the  conformal weapons bay of the F-15SE ‘Silent Eagle’ on July 14, 2010, a week after the aircraft completed the first flight of this technology demonstrator on July 8, 2010. On the first flight the aircraft, designated F-15E1 took off from the Lambert St. Louis International Airport on an 80-minute flight, where the aircraft opened and closed its left-side Conformal Weapons Bay, which contained an AIM-120 Instrumented Test Vehicle (ITV) missile. “[In this flight] we cleared the desired flight envelope needed to fire the missile at the test range” said Boeing F-15 Chief Test Pilot Dan Draeger. According to Boeing F-15 Development Programs Director Brad Jones, in the next couple of weeks, the F-15E1 will be ferry to a test range to launch an AIM-120.

Key to the F-15SE design is the conformal weapons bays, designed for the F-15SE. This new add-on module was originally designed specifically for the F-15SE but could also be available for other F-15 models, particularly interesting is the F-15E, I K, S and S (F-15E models operated by Israel, South Korea, Saudi-Arabia and Singapore) already operating F-15s with conformal tanks.

The Silent Eagle was developed in response to South Korea’s requirements for high-performance, stealth capable fighter aircraft. The F-15SE offers unique aerodynamic, avionic and Radar Cross Section reduction features that provide maximum flexibility in air dominance as it can be operated with and without stealth capabilities. Boeing is offering the F-15SE with customizable fighter that can be outfitted with AESA radars, radar absorbent coatings, large digital cockpit displays, fly-by-wire software, canted tails and bolt-on internal weapons bays.

According to UPI, Boeing is hoping to win an export license to sell its new F-15 Silent Eagle to South Korea within a month. South Korea has a requirement for a third batch of 60 F-15 size fighters, due next year. Boeing could be offering the F-15SE with customizable fighter that can be outfitted with AESA radars, radar absorbent coatings, large digital cockpit displays, fly-by-wire software, canted tails and bolt-on internal weapons bays.

Boeing performed the first flight of the F-15E1 'Silent Eagle' flight demonstrator on July 8, 2010 Photo: Boeing