Boeing [BA] entered an agreement with Brazilian manufacturer Embraer [ERJ] to install its Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) on Embraer’s A-29 Super Tucano turbo-prop aircraft, a Boeing spokesman said yesterday.
The agreement is a big step for Embraer and Sierra Nevada Defense Corp. as the two companies are teaming to offer the Super Tucano in the Air Force’s $355 million Afghanistan Light Air Support competition. Hawker Beechcraft Defense Company, offering its AT-6, is the competitor.
“This new capability will take advantage of the versatility of the Super Tucano and will benefit our campaign in the United States,” Embraer Defense and Security President Luiz Carlos Aguiar said in a statement. “With more than eight years in service and more than 160 aircraft delivered, the Super Tucano is a proven platform. The aircraft’s performance, operational effectiveness and costs to operate and maintain are well-defined and documented.”
JDAM is a guidance kit that converts existing, unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided “smart” weapons. JDAM utilizes Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, can be launched miles from a target, relies on the navigation system to update its trajectory all the way to impact, Boeing said in a statement. Boeing’s factory for the JDAM guidance kit currently produces about 42 daily, with work split between JDAMs and SDBs (Defense Daily, April 16).
SDB is a low-cost, low collateral-damage precision strike weapons system consisting of the weapon itself, a four-weapon carriage, a precision inertial navigation system/GPS, a mission-planning system and a logistics-support system, Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing and Embraer agreed in late June to collaborate on the KC-390 military cargo aircraft program. The two companies will share some “specific technical knowledge and evaluate markets” where they may join sales efforts for medium-lift military transport opportunities. Embraer produces the KC-390 (Defense Daily, July 2).