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CF-18 Upgrades - Sniper and Small Diameter Bombs

Kirkhill

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The following article caused me to start wondering.  Anybody out there have any idea what the unrefuelled range of a CF-18 with 16 SDBs and a Sniper recconaissance pod might be?  Are they currently part of the CF-18 upgrade plan?

It sounds as if it could take some of the load off of Arty and compensate for the loss of some of the 155mm capabilities as well as handle some of the Guided MRLS tasks.


Boeing Small Diameter Bomb Aces Test Mission 
 
 
(Source: Boeing Co.; issued Aug. 16, 2004)
 
 
ST. LOUIS --- A Boeing Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) was successfully launched Tuesday over the Gulf of Mexico Test Range by a U.S. Air Force F-15E aircrew assigned to the 46th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. 

The 250-pound class, near precision-guided weapon was dropped from 30,000 ft. and accomplished a demanding series of flight maneuvers. The weapon, also identified as the GBU-39, traveled more than 25 miles before hitting the target. This was the third guided launch in just four months and exercised the entire SDB system to include the weapon, a four-bomb carriage, accuracy support, integrated logistics, and the mission planning. 

â Å“This flight was another indicator of the outstanding partnership between the Air Force and Boeing on this high-priority program. This is a warm-up for an unprecedented flight test schedule leading to an initial production decision in April 2005,â ? said Col. Jim McClendon, director of Miniature Munitions, Eglin AFB. 

The SDB is currently in a 36-month System Development and Demonstration phase that began in October 2003. Extensive ground and flight-testing is currently underway for the stationary target increment of SDB. In a previous development period, the SDB completed six guided launches and extensive flight and ground testing. 

â Å“I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of the SDB Team and the performance of this system,â ? said Dan Jaspering, Boeing's Small Diameter Bomb program manager. â Å“We are focused on doing what it takes to provide this critical capability to war fighters as promised in 2006.â ? 

At a compact 71 inches long and 7.5 inches wide, the SDB is the next generation low-cost precision strike weapon. It can be launched from a fighter, bomber or unmanned aircraft and will provide a standoff range of 60 nautical miles. The weapon will be capable of penetrating more than three feet of steel-reinforced concrete. Its small size allows four weapons to be carried on the smart weapon stations used on F-15E, F/A-22, F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter), Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, and almost all other weapons platforms. 

Boeing will build an estimated 24,000 weapons and 2,000 carriages over the next 10 years at its production facility in St. Charles, Mo., at an estimated cost of $2.5 billion. Development of the Increment II SDB (GBU-40) is planned to start in 2005. 

 
Not sure but I was watching discovery air and they had a 1 hour show on the austrailian air force and there was talk of something similiar with a range of 90-10 miles for their f-18s. Rather some su-27s and an investment into the american f35 project is a much better alternative since we have no threats atm. But without the money for new equipment keeping your attacking distance high sounds like the key to the f-18 survival. 
 
A link from Boeing about the G.B.U. 39.




http://www.boeing.com/special/stl-labor/files/pdf/sdb_background.pdf
 
http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

A bit of info on the ATFLIR targeting pod used by the USN onf F/A-18C as well as info on a similar pod/capability used on Predators.


Also this from http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cgi-bin/client/modele.pl?session=dae.4308111.1089903978.QPadasOa9dUAAESlMZk&modele=jdc_34

The Norwegian Defence's National Command North has put commercial satellites to use in order to facilitate its task of monitoring ocean and borders in Northern Norway.  

The task of monitoring the vast Norwegian interest-zone off the Norwegian coast has therefore been greatly facilitated. In the past, the monitoring of these areas was solely covered by coastal installations, Coast Guard vessels and aircrafts.  

Since the Norwegian Defence does not operate its own satellites, a contract was signed with the Norwegian Kongsberg group, and the images used are purchased from a Canadian satellite.
 


I have asked this question before but am still curious especially in light of the current exercises in the Arctic.


Are single air-frame squadrons the right solution for being able to threats in our approaches? Or is a combined squadron/group of 4-12 Predator/Global Hawks, 2-4 CP-140s and 4-8 CF18s keying on data supplied by SARSAT, Radarsat, NORAD, NAVCan etc. a better solution?  

It seems to me that the technology now allows a group that: would use UAVs to supply 24/7 coverage over fishing grounds and the commercial shipping lanes to monitor ALL vessels in the area; would rely on National Resources as described above to find "anomalies" that need investigating; could despatch CF18s to quickly get an eyes-on recce using the same on-board technology as the UAVs and then despatch CP140s if long term surveillance or an on-scene command presence were required.

The manned units would also have the capability to supply lethal force.

I guess this is a related thought to the Army discussion of whether units should be based on common equipment (for logistics and training simplicity) or whether they should be raised for a common purpose (for readiness, essentially training for the fight).

As I say, just curious.

 
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