Air Forces chooses Kaman to provide programmable fuzes for airborne weapons
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – U.S. Air Force airborne weapons experts needed special fuzes that enable aircraft pilots to program weapons in flight. They found their solution from the Kaman Corp. Fuzing & Precision Products segment in Orlando, Fla.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced a $52 million order to Kaman on Wednesday for 15,000 FMU-152 A/B Joint Programmable Fuzes (JPF).
The JPF enables air crew to program weapon settings in flight while weapons are mounted to the aircraft, and is for several different weapons, including general-purpose bombs and guided bombs that use JDAM or Paveway kits.
Aircraft that can use the JPF on their weapons include the F-15E jet fighter-bomber, F-16 jet fighter, F-22 fighter, A-10 ground-attack jet, B-1 and B-2 strategic bombers, B-52 bomber, and MQ-9 Reaper attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
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Fuzing provides mechanical, electro-mechanical, and electronic safe/arm products for general-purpose and penetration bombs, missiles, and rockets.
Kaman is the sole source of the Joint Programmable Fuze (FMU-152 A/B) to the Air Force, and been the sole provider of the JPF to the Air Force since 2002. Kaman also provides the JPF to 26 other nations.
Kaman produces the JPF at facilities in Orlando, Fla., and in Middletown, Conn. The has projectile velocity measurement equipment, projectile impact media, high-speed photographic equipment, and lighting for night firing and tests to help in JPF production.
On this order Kaman will do the work in Orlando, Fla., and Middletown, Conn., and should be finished by June 1, 2020. For more information contact Kaman Fuzing & Precision Products online at www.kaman.com/fuzing-precision-products/about-us.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
