B-2 drops 80 test bombs (JDAMS)

Air Force Link ^ | 8/8/2003 | 2nd Lt. Brooke Davis

[Spruce]

B-2 drops 80 test bombs

	EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A B-2 Spirit drops Joint Direct Attack Munitions separation test vehicles over Edwards in an earlier test. On Aug. 6, a B-2 dropped 80 inert JDAMs during a test to increase the B-2's operational capability. (Courtesy photo)
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by 2nd Lt. Brooke Davis
Air Force Flight Test Center Public Affairs

8/8/2003 - EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN)  -- In an effort to increase the B-2 Spirit's operational capability, a test force here conducted an airborne release of 80 Joint Direct Attack Munitions separation test vehicles. The separation test vehicles are inert weapons used to collect data.

The Aug. 6 test was one of more than nine sorties flown as a build-up toward equipping the aircraft to carry and release up to 80 JDAMs on a single missions, according to Mark Burke, 419th Flight Test Squadron project manager. The purpose of the build-up approach is to reduce the risk of aircraft collision with the weapons, explained Burke.

"The overall objective of this program is to integrate the Smart Bomb Release Assembly and JDAM-82 into the B-2," said Burke. "This improved capability will allow the B-2 to carry 80 JDAMs."

The brains of the SBRA are the Smart Bomb Rack Controller and the Stores Management Operational Flight Program. This allows the weapons to be released at specific intervals, according to Burke. The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target.

The vehicles used during the drop are not considered smart weapons because target data will not be passed to the weapon, said Burke. Data collected from each sortie will be analyzed by the Air Force Seek Eagle Office at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Officials use this data to certify the safety of new weapons on aircraft, and the B-2 test program is required to have AFSEO clearance before progressing to the next release sortie.

"Once all of the data collected from the STV release is analyzed by AFSEO, the program will progress into the demo phase," said Burke. "The demo phase will be an end-to-end test that proves the capabilities of the SBRA and JDAM-82 weapons load."

The demo phase is a two-part mission that will be flown from Edwards to the Utah Testing and Training Range at Hill AFB, Utah, Burke explained.

The demo phase will mark the first demonstration of an airborne platform with the maximum amount of mass-precision capability achieved by the B-2 test program, according to Maj. William Power, 419th FLTS project pilot.

The first demo test, scheduled for late August, will be the released 32 inert JDAMs onto the JDAM complex, which is set up to represent an operational airfield. The final demo test, scheduled for September, will release 80 inert JDAM-82 weapons at once with the potential of striking 80 different targets on the JDAM complex.

[Lazamataz]

The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target.

Not reasonable. Author error.

[ChefKeith]

TOW MISSLE upgraded???

[samuel_adams_us]

So is this the America version of the JDAM or the Chinese version the chinese just picked up with they bought out the company that makes them?

[Lazamataz]

TOW MISSLE upgraded???

Not reasonable. A TOW missile might go 500 yards. Maybe even 1000. But a B2 can drop from 30000 ft or more.

And a TOW cable encounters no wind resistance because it follows the missile. However, think of the wind stresses on a thin cable 30000 feet long travelling at Mach 2.

[r9etb]

So is this the America version of the JDAM or the Chinese version the chinese just picked up with they bought out the company that makes them?

The Chinese didn't buy the company that "makes JDAMs". The article to which you refer says that it is one component of a JDAM -- rare earth magnets -- that the Chinese are supposedly going to manufacture.

[r9etb]

The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target.

Not reasonable. Author error.

Actually, this is your error. The JDAM receives targeting information from the aircraft via a data bus -- i.e., through a cable -- while it is sitting in the bomb bay.

My question is: is this 80 JDAMs from a single B-2? If so .... WOW!!!!

[samuel_adams_us]

Oh, guess it doesn't matter then?

[KarlInOhio]

The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target.

Not reasonable. Author error.

I think they mean while in the aircraft, rather than having to be programmed on the ground before takeoff. Really helpful for those 24 hour missions from Missouri to be able to program the exact target an hour before bombing.

[Lazamataz]

Actually, this is your error. The JDAM receives targeting information from the aircraft via a data bus -- i.e., through a cable -- while it is sitting in the bomb bay.

Dammit man.

Reasonable. Laz error.

[Lazamataz]

I lose. You win.

[snooker]

Really big stealthy bomb truck. Just call up and order what you need.

[Slainte]

The dang cable company is everywhere.

[polemikos]

Lazy question:
How many J-DAMS does a B-52 carry?

[jae471]

My question is: is this 80 JDAMs from a single B-2? If so .... WOW!!!!

Yes, but these are the little boys -- mk-82s, the 500 pounders.

The B-2 has always had the capacity for 80 mk-82s, just not the capacity for simultaneous targeting of 80.

Stated payloads of a B-2 include 80 mk82s, 16 mk84s, 8 GBU-37s (buster bunkers), or 16 B-61/83s (which will leave quite a mark -- these are nukes.)

[bert]

TOW MISSLE upgraded???.....

I have a different understanding. The cable allows the JDAM on the rack to communicate with the aircraft computer to obtain aimimg info. The weapon is not permanently attached to the aircraft by the cable. The guidance info is stored within the JDAM.

I thought a TOW was connected and guided by a "wire", not a cable.

[jae471]

51 mk-82s.
12 mk-84s.

[ChefKeith]

Not reasonable

Neither is a $5000 toilet seat or a $600 hammer, however We are talking about the military here...

[Gunslingr3]

The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target. Not reasonable. Author error.

I'm going to hazard a guess that cable is connected while it's in the bomb bay, allowing the pilots to give coordinates to the JDAM once in flight, but prior to release. I don't think the author intended to describe the bombs as 'wire guided'.

[r9etb]

Oh, guess it doesn't matter then?

Sure it matters. But let's not get our knickers in a twist about problems that don't exist.