$52.9M in Smart Cluster Bomb Kits to Oman, USAF
Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control in Orlando FL received a $52.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for 1,655 Production Phase Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) Tail Kits: 1,618 for the U.S. Air Force (with warranty), 15 USAF tail kits (no warranty), 22 Foreign Military Sales tail kits to Oman, and 100 Production Phase Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser – Extended Range (WCMD-ER) kits for the USAF.
The Wind Compensated Munitions Dispenser [WCMD “Wick-Mid”] is an inexpensive tail kit that uses inertial guidance to steer cluster bombs from a known release point to precise target coordinates while compensating for launch transients, winds aloft, surface winds and adverse weather. The WCMD kit thus turns “dumb” cluster bombs into accurate “smart” weapons. Currently, the dispenser is achieving an accuracy of within 30 feet. Aircraft employ WCMD from a wide range of altitudes, in adverse weather, using various tactics such as level, dive, and toss bombing, and bombing on coordinates.
WCMD is designed for use with the 1,000 lb. CBU-103/CBU-87 CEM anti-personnel and CBU-105/CBU-97 SFW anti-armor cluster bombs, the 1,000 lb. CBU-104/CBU-89 Gator containing antitank and antipersonnel mines, and the CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon filled with 3,700 nonexplosive penetrator rods, for use in an environment where warfighters need to disable a target without destroying its surroundings.
At the beginning of the WCMD program, U.S. Department of Defense officials originally predicted the dispenser tail kits would cost approximately $25,000 per unit. Through the application of an effective acquisition strategy by the Eglin WCMD team, however, the dispenser unit cost ended up being around $9,000 per unit.
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser Extended Range (WCMD-ER) increases the standoff range by using GPS guidance to aid its Inertial Guidance System, similar to the more-famous JDAM kit for conventional bombs. At present, WCMD-ER is only tested for use with the 1,000 lb. CBU-103/CBU-87 CEM anti-personnel and CBU-105/CBU-97 SFW anti-armor cluster bombs.
The location of performance for this contract is Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control in Orlando FL (75%) and Lockheed Martin Ocala Operations in Ocala FL (25%). Solicitations began June 2004, negotiations were complete May 2005, and work will be complete June 2007. The Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, FL issued the contract (FA8677-05-C-0025).
- GlobalSecurity.org: Wind Corrected Munition Dispenser (WCMD) CBU-103 / CBU-104 / CBU-105 / CBU-107
