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With around 1,000 in the inventory, the B61 is America's primary nuclear gravity bomb -- and has been since the 1960s. Current plans anticipate a smaller future inventory of just 400 B61s. In part to compensate for the reduced stockpile, the unguided B61 will get a new GPS guidance kit fitted to the bomb's tail. The upgrade is scheduled to be completed in 2018.
GPS will give the B61-12 the same pinpoint accuracy as the conventional Joint Direct Attack Munition. Better accuracy means the nuke doesn't have to be as powerful as before to achieve the same effect. "The upgrade would also improve the capability of U.S. strategic bombers to destroy targets with lower yield and less radioactive fallout," noted Hans Kristensen, from the Federation of American Scientists. The B61-12 will carry a 50-kiloton warhead, compared to the 340 kilotons for some older B61s.
But the upgrade is not without controversy. Better accuracy and a smaller warhead could make nuclear bombs seem "more useable," and that could "potentially lower the nuclear threshold in a conflict," Kristensen warned. The same fear scuttled Pentagon plans in the 1990s for less powerful nukes.
Boeing, Air Force Research Laboratory team on nonlethal microwave weapon
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 22, 2011 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) today announced that they successfully completed the missile's first flight test earlier this year at the Utah Test and Training Range at Hill Air Force Base.
CHAMP is a nonlethal alternative to kinetic weapons that neutralizes electronic targets. It would allow the military to focus on these targets while minimizing or eliminating collateral damage.
The CHAMP missile pointed at a set of simulated targets, confirming that the missile could be controlled and timed while using a High-powered Microwave (HPM) system against multiple targets and locations. The software used was identical to the software required for a vehicle with a fully integrated HPM system on board.
"It was as close to the real thing as we could get for this test," said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works. "This demonstration, which brings together the Air Force Research Laboratory's directed energy technology and Boeing's missile design, sets the stage for a new breed of nonlethal but highly effective weapon systems."
The three-year, $38 million joint capability technology demonstration program includes ground and flight demonstrations that focus on technology integration risk reduction and military utility. More tests are scheduled for later this year.
Boeing received the contract in April 2009. As the prime contractor, Boeing provides the airborne platform and serves as the system integrator. Albuquerque, N.M.-based Ktech Corp. -- the primary subcontractor -- supplies the HPM source. Sandia National Laboratories provides the pulse power system under a separate contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $32 billion business with 64,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.
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