U.S. Air Force B-2 Bomber Drops 80 JDAMS in Historic Test (Cool Video Feed)

Boeing.com ^ | September 17, 2003 | Boeing News Release

[Paleo Conservative]

ST. LOUIS, September 17, 2003 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force successfully completed their first 80 guided weapon flight test demonstration of the MK-82 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). The drop took place from a B-2A bomber on September 10 at the Utah Test & Training Range, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

The B-2A aircraft, based at Edwards AFB, Calif., flew to the test site and released the 80 weapons in a single 22-second pass. The weapons were released from four Boeing-designed and built “smart” bomb racks, flew their planned flight paths and attacked all 80 targets.

“Placing maximum steel on the target is what we get paid to do as Air Force bomber pilots and that happened today in a big way,” said Major William Power, 419th Flight Test Squadron B-2A project pilot. “Dropping 80 JDAM MK-82s in less than 30 seconds, with each attacking their own individual targets, is truly revolutionary.”

JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit that converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided “smart” weapons. Boeing produces kits for 2,000 and 1,000-pound warheads and recently completed development for the 500-pound JDAM. The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a production contract to produce the first 5,800 MK-82 JDAMs which will be available in 2004.

“This historic drop clearly demonstrates the incredible capability of the MK-82 JDAM,” said Mike Marks, vice president and general manager of Air Force fighter, bomber and weapons programs, for Boeing. “This smaller warhead allows the warfighter to increase the number of weapons and subsequent targets while reducing collateral damage.”

The B-2 flight test program began in February 2003 as part of a separate contract to integrate the MK-82 JDAM and concluded with the 80-weapon demonstration.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, or IDS, is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $25 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world's largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA's largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.

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[Paleo Conservative]

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[zarf]

Cool. Does this mean my Boeing stock will finally go up? :(

[FlyVet]

No place to hide. I hope B-52's and B-1's are also being outfitted with the capability. How about giving CBU munitions the same guidance system, falling in large quantities from big bombers? That would give Glorious Leader Kim Jong Il a few nightmares. Imagine trying to mount a human wave charge against that. Nothing but a meat grinder.

[jwh_Denver]

Incredible. Thanks for posting this. It was only after watching it twice did I get the full impact. I wonder how long it will be before they duct tape a picture of say Arafat on the nose of the bomb and forget about him. "Dust in the wind, all he his is dust in the wind."

[FreedomPoster]

Is it available in something other than RealMedia? RealPlayer is spyware, I refuse to load that junque on my computers. WMP is bad enough.

Sounds cool, though.

[LibKill]

Very nice.

Of course the video would have been even more impressive had they used live ordnance instead of dummies. :)

Anyhow, this should rachet up the B-2 capability. It is now a more versatile weapon.

[demlosers]

A little commentary:
The bomb lift truck is called a MHU-83 'Jammer.' You'll notice the steel nose cone in front of the bomb for aero-dynamics in place of any nose fuze -- it's in the tail. The JDAM is the grey fin-assembly attached the BDU-50(inert Mk-82, 500lb bomb)concrete filled. No need for explosives for an accuracy test.

I'm convinced JADMs can hit a target will high results.

[wysiwyg]

Now that's impressive! Eighty targets in 22 seconds from one aircraft -- It wouldn't be a good thing to be on the receiving end! Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide...

[Starrgaizr]

[B-Chan]

Impressive.

I love the idea of using concrete bombs in combat. Why go boom whem pow does the job? e_k=mv²/2 = pow!

[Centurion2000]

bump

[Fudd]

Why go boom whem pow does the job? Because it is much more satisfying to add thermal energy (from the rapid rearrangement of molecular bonds to a lower potential state) to kinetic energy.

[JohnBovenmyer]

This also means that there are only 22 seconds in which the B2 is the Unstealth bomber. It shows on radar when bomb bay is open.

[wysiwyg]

Why go boom whem pow does the job?

More like a loud "THUMP!"

THUMP
What was that?
THUMP
There it was again...
SPLAT!

LOL Stealth bombs dropped from the stealth bomber!

[HamiltonJay]

DAMN!!!!

I never want to be on the recieving end of US military might.

[wysiwyg]

This also means that there are only 22 seconds in which the B2 is the Unstealth bomber.

True. You know, reality is quickly starting to sound like a Dale Brown technothriller. Deadly accurate smart bombs, armed UAV's, stealth UAV's... And I recently heard something about some research into adaptive body armor -- shades of Brown's tin men.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I know you like things that go, "BOOM!"

[squibs]

I cannot view this. I get a message.
"This server does not have a DNS entry. Please check the server name in the URL and try again."
Can anyone tell me what that means?
I even went to the Boeing site and tried it there too.

[finnman69]

Very cool. Man they packed those bombs in there. Sort of like how mnay clown can you stuff in the car.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Nice!