Australian military receives JDAM-ER wing kits

CANBERRA, Australia, April 30 (UPI) -- The Australian Air Force Thursday accepted the first production set of Australian designed and made JDAM extended range wing kits.

The kits, strapped onto a bomb equipped with Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which convert a free-fall bomb into a precision glide munition, extends the weapon's range.

The technology was developed in collaboration with Boeing of the United States.

"This successful project has taken an Australian idea and through an international collaboration, has turned it into a reality," said Rear Admiral Tony Dalton, head of Australia's Defense Materiel Organization's Helicopter Systems and Guided Weapons Division. "These range extending wing kits almost triple the baseline range of the current smart JDAM bombs, which is 15 nautical miles.

"These wing kits were developed by the Defense Science and Technology Organization and are being manufactured by Ferra Engineering under contract to Boeing."

Boeing produced the kits delivered to Australia at a Ferra Engineering facility.

The Australian Department of Defense said test and evaluation flight trials of the new extended range smart bomb were successfully conducted at Woomera, Australia, in December last year, with the weapons landing within yards of their designated targets.