U.S. defense aerospace technology company L3Harris Technologies has just announced a $29 million contract to supply smart weapon delivery systems to three allied military forces in the Middle East regions. and North Africa, allowing pilots to double the amount of smart munitions their F-16s can carry. The air defenses of Morocco, Bahrain and Jordan will benefit.
According to the release of the defense company which provides advanced defense and commercial technologies in the air fields, the drop system or the “L3Harris BRU-57/A smart multiple carriage rack”, increases the transport capacity of the aircraft. while improving the safety and efficiency of pilots and ground crew. “This new system will allow F-16s from the Air Defense Forces of Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco to carry two smart weapons on each system instead of one, doubling the ammunition capacity“, she says.
For Ed Zoiss, President of Space and Airborne Systems at L3Harris, “our drop systems provide additional offensive capabilities while giving commanders the versatility to deploy the right firepower for every mission“. He explains that “these combat-proven systems allow munitions to outperform and mission commanders to send the right weapon at the right time to the right target ».
The company details that the “BRU-57/A” is a combat-proven system widely used by a growing number of air forces around the world. The system incorporates two BRU-46 pyrotechnic racks and doubles the number of smart weapons that can be carried by a single station. It is deployed on the F-16 and will be used on the Korean KF-X platform.
Additionally, this system is compatible with 500-pound and 1000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), the BRU-57/A also supports Joint Standby Ranged Weapons (JSOW). “Type I UAI weapons will be included as they become available. The BRU-57/A supports various weapons on a single unit and asymmetric loading on the aircraft“, adds the American developer. The advantage of the rack, according to the same source, is its compatibility with “the F-16 Block 40 and higher and does not require any modification to the aircraft ».
Thus, the delivery contract is indefinite and also of indefinite quantity. The Moroccan air force will be equipped with a batch of 105 release systems, the same for the other two countries. It should be noted that the systems were put into service for the American, allied and partner air forces in 1999, with more than 1,100 ordered to date knowing that the American innovator has customers in more than 100 countries.
