Multipurpose Bomb Rack program reaches Milestone B.
UNITED STATES - 9 APRIL 2010
The U.S. Navy’s first bomb rack design effort in four decades recently met a new milestone.
The BRU-69/A multipurpose bomb rack (MPBR) received a Milestone B approval, which authorizes the program to move into the System Development and Demonstration phase. The U.S. Navy awarded the Engineering Manufacturing Development contract to Raytheon March 29.
The 210-pound rack will replace the current inventory of BRU-33, BRU-41, BRU-42 and BRU-55 racks.
“By replacing four racks with one, the MPBR will significantly reduce the Aircraft Armament Equipment (AAE) logistical footprint, aircraft turnaround time and life-cycle cost,” said Capt. Carl Chebi, NAVAIR’s Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201) program manager. “Being able to carry multiple store configurations from a single weapons rack provides tremendous flexibility to the warfighter.”
The twin-store, non-pyrotechnic carriage system will consolidate the capabilities of legacy bomb racks currently deployed on the F/A-18 E-F into a single rack, reducing overall logistics and ownership cost. MPBR will also be integrated on the Joint Strike Fighter.
“MPBR’s primary technical advantage to the fleet is that it is non-pyrotechnic and much less labor intensive to maintain,” said Ralph “Chip” Whipkey, PMA-201 AAE integrated product team lead. “Current bomb racks use Cartridge Actuated Devices (CADs) to provide the energy to drive the rack and release the stores. The CAD, while effective, leaves an explosive residue that is corrosive thereby driving additional rack cleaning and maintenance by the fleet maintainer.”
The rack’s Universal Armament Interface (UAI) software enables the aircraft to communicate with its ordnance. UAI’s functionality is similar to USB architecture which enables compatible hardware to be connected and operated without any additional hardware or software changes.
This capability enables MPBR to be used with current and future “smart weapons,” including laser guided weapons, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Joint Standoff Weapon and Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles.
Raytheon and Ultra Electronics will team up to develop MPBR, with assessment expected in early 2011 followed by low rate initial production in 2014. Inventory objectives call for 2,050 units to be produced.
MPBR is slated to reach the fleet in 2017.
PMA-201 is responsible for the research, development and acquisition of the fleet’s air-to-ground precision guided weapons, general-purpose bombs and aircraft armament-related equipment.
UNITED STATES - 9 APRIL 2010
The U.S. Navy’s first bomb rack design effort in four decades recently met a new milestone.
The BRU-69/A multipurpose bomb rack (MPBR) received a Milestone B approval, which authorizes the program to move into the System Development and Demonstration phase. The U.S. Navy awarded the Engineering Manufacturing Development contract to Raytheon March 29.
The 210-pound rack will replace the current inventory of BRU-33, BRU-41, BRU-42 and BRU-55 racks.
“By replacing four racks with one, the MPBR will significantly reduce the Aircraft Armament Equipment (AAE) logistical footprint, aircraft turnaround time and life-cycle cost,” said Capt. Carl Chebi, NAVAIR’s Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201) program manager. “Being able to carry multiple store configurations from a single weapons rack provides tremendous flexibility to the warfighter.”
The twin-store, non-pyrotechnic carriage system will consolidate the capabilities of legacy bomb racks currently deployed on the F/A-18 E-F into a single rack, reducing overall logistics and ownership cost. MPBR will also be integrated on the Joint Strike Fighter.
“MPBR’s primary technical advantage to the fleet is that it is non-pyrotechnic and much less labor intensive to maintain,” said Ralph “Chip” Whipkey, PMA-201 AAE integrated product team lead. “Current bomb racks use Cartridge Actuated Devices (CADs) to provide the energy to drive the rack and release the stores. The CAD, while effective, leaves an explosive residue that is corrosive thereby driving additional rack cleaning and maintenance by the fleet maintainer.”
The rack’s Universal Armament Interface (UAI) software enables the aircraft to communicate with its ordnance. UAI’s functionality is similar to USB architecture which enables compatible hardware to be connected and operated without any additional hardware or software changes.
This capability enables MPBR to be used with current and future “smart weapons,” including laser guided weapons, Joint Direct Attack Munition, Joint Standoff Weapon and Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles.
Raytheon and Ultra Electronics will team up to develop MPBR, with assessment expected in early 2011 followed by low rate initial production in 2014. Inventory objectives call for 2,050 units to be produced.
MPBR is slated to reach the fleet in 2017.
PMA-201 is responsible for the research, development and acquisition of the fleet’s air-to-ground precision guided weapons, general-purpose bombs and aircraft armament-related equipment.
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