Non-Subscriber Extract
Kosovo spurs precision bomb programs
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| 21 September 2000 |
By MARK HEWISH
The US armed forces, and several European countries, plan to acquire additional precision-guided bombs as a result of their experience during Operation 'Allied Force' over Kosovo last year. Most efforts focus on weapons that incorporate a guidance package combining a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver with an inertial navigation system (INS), which - subject to controls intended to minimize the likelihood of fratricide or collateral damage - can be delivered in weather conditions that prevent the use of laser-guided bombs (LGBs).
Additional operational advantages include a larger delivery envelope for the launch aircraft, and the ability to attack targets at greater off-axis angles.
The US Air Force (USAF) and Navy (USN) plan to buy a total of 1,200 rounds of the Enhanced Paveway, which adds GPS/INS to the existing Paveway III LGB (retaining the laser seeker), with production deliveries starting in the fourth quarter of this year.
Raytheon built the first units with its own money, as no official requirement existed, although the USAF has since amended an existing contract to incorporate the new version. Official testing, which began in June on the China Lake ranges of the US Naval Air Warfare Center's Weapons Division, initially involved releases of the GBU-24E/B variant from the F-117 and F/A-18C.
Five such tests had occurred by late July, all of which were successful. Testing involved several types of attack, including no laser illumination, partial laser, offset laser, and high off-axis delivery. Other planned platforms include the F-14, F-15 and F-16.
The Enhanced Paveway program in the US focuses on the GBU-24, -27 and -28 variants, since the Paveway III seeker and tailkit (which are unaltered) are optimized for the flightpath employed by penetrator weapons. The three types employ a common GPS/INS guidance unit with minor software differences. The Enhanced Paveway effort also adds an electrical interface between the weapon and its launch aircraft, via the MIL-STD-1760 stores-management bus, which allows the GPS/INS guidance unit to receive the co-ordinates for a different target from that originally planned.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to issue an invitation to tender for its Precision Guided Bomb (PGB) program (see IDR 7/2000, p3) in early 2001. The projected in-service date remains 2005-06, in order not to prejudice bids involving solutions that are not yet fully developed. Some proposals are based on the US-developed Mk80 series, while others employ the standard UK 908kg and 245kg bombs. Those advocating the latter path point to the traditionally high cost of integrating a new weapon with its launch platform, which in the UK can reach £15 million (US$22.5m) for each aircraft type, although IDR understands that BAE Systems is now quoting substantially lower figures.
This in part reflects the company's desire to offer its products with Mk80 clearance in the export market. Raytheon, which plans to bid Enhanced Paveway for the PGB program, may submit proposals based on the Paveway III and/or on the Paveway II. The company is promoting the advantages of retaining the laser seeker in addition to the GPS/INS package, although this increases the price (an Enhanced Paveway incorporating both guidance methods costs about one-third more than the baseline LGB).
Other contenders for the PGB program include the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and variants of it. JDAM recently began tactical operations with the USN, when F/A-18s from the John F Kennedy carrier battle group dropped a total of 20 weapons based on Mk84 908kg bombs during a fleet exercise in support of Operation 'Southern Watch' over Iraq. Boeing is contributing JDAM technology to the team led by Alenia Marconi Systems (which additionally includes Hunting Engineering) that plans to bid Striker, based on the UK-developed bomb family, for the PGB program.
The Italian company SEI, which does not plan to bid as prime contractor for the UK effort, is gathering Mk80 data from US service organizations and contractors on behalf of the PGB Integrated Project Team. This process makes the information available much faster than would be the case under a more conventional government-to-government relationship. SEI is additionally promoting the FMU-152 Joint Programmable Fuze (JPF) and its new PBX explosives filling capability to PGB bidders. The company (as a member of Team Fuzing) will build the JPF for customers including Italy and Germany, and the UK - were it to select a Mk80-based solution for the PGB - could join a pan-European procurement.
Other European countries are also re-equipping following their participation in Operation 'Allied Force'. The French Air Force recently issued a tender to supply nearly 10,000 bombs from the Mk80 family, and Matra - as warhead contractor for the new Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) weapon - is understood to have selected the JPF for that application. This may result in the French DGA defense procurement organization withdrawing funding for the new Thomson-CSF FBM21 modular bomb fuze. Denmark is set to be first European customer for JDAM, having requested the purchase of 400 GBU-31 tail kits, the same number of JPFs and 120 BLU-109 penetrator bombs at an estimated cost of US$40 million.
EXPAL and Raytheon have jointly developed the BPG-2000, which mates the Paveway III laser guidance kit with the Spanish company's CPE-800 penetrator bomb and ER501 hard-target penetrating fuze. The 920kg weapon, which is lighter than the standard GBU-24 Paveway, is tailored for carriage by the F/A-18 and has completed integration testing by the Spanish Air Force aboard that platform.
During trials between February and June, all seven BPG-2000s dropped from an F/A-18 hit their targets. The weapon is also intended to arm Spanish Air Force Mirage F1s and Eurofighters.