The first production set of Australian-designed and manufactured range-extending wing kits for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) for use by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has been delivered.
The wing kits, which were developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), are being manufactured by Ferra Engineering under contract to Boeing. Speaking at an event marking the delivery at the Ferra production facility in Brisbane, Rear Admiral Tony Dalton, head of the Helicopters, Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems and Guided Weapons Division at the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), stated that one aspect of the JDAM enhancement program had been to test, certify and manufacture a range-extending wing kit.
“This successful project has taken an Australian idea and through an international collaboration has turned it into a reality,” he said on Thursday. “These range-extending wing kits almost triple the baseline range of the current smart bombs.”
Test and evaluation flight trials of the new extended-range JDAM were successfully conducted at the Woomera range in December last year, with the weapons landing within metres of their designated targets, Defence stated.
