All Recorded Utilizing the Airborne Separation Video System (ASVS)

By Susan Jahn, Electronics engineer, NAWCAD

Bombs away: Lt. Cmdr. Eric Holmberg, F/A-18E/F test pilot, releases first JDAM MK84 from Super Hornet E4.

NAS PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The first flight releasing a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) MK84 Version (2,000 pound class weapon) from Super Hornet F/A-18E, Number 4 (E4), was recently conducted. Aircraft Test Squadron Pilot Lt. Cmdr. Eric Holmberg piloted the milestone-mission in an F/A-18E, at the Atlantic Test Range here. Maj. Scott Whitley, Canadian Air Force, and Randy Hepp flew the photographic safety chase for the mission.

"This Achievement is a strong testament to the NAVAIR/ Boeing engineering team and is a stepping stone to a uniquely superb capability to Strike Warfare," Lt. Cmdr. Mike Overs, F/A-18 Weapon System Integration Team Leader.

The feeling of success was echoed by the JDAM Progam Manager, Capt. Bob Wirt, (PMA-201).

"These are exciting times for Naval Aviation," Wirt said. "JDAM brings capability that will add to an already impressive arsenal of lethal weapons for the Super Hornet. Precision Strike weapons, like JDAM, has revolutionized strike warfare for our deployed air wings. Our Joint Program Office in Eglin has done a superb job getting this weapon to our warfighters."

The JDAM is a Joint Air Force/Navy program with Navy involvement managed by the Conventional Strike Weapons Program Office designed to address adverse weather and precision-strike requirements.

JDAM consists of a low cost, low drag general purpose bomb (MK-83, Mk-84, BLU-109 or BLU-110) which is autonomously guided by an onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) aided Inertial Navigation System. The strap-on JDAM guidance tailkit set and wrap-around strake assembly combined with a conventional warhead provides adverse weather, day/night strike capability with increased accuracy and employment from standoff ranges at high or low altitudes against a variety of land and sea targets.

The flight provided the first look at actual separation characteristics of the JDAM MK-84 from the Super Hornet and ushers in testing of the latest so called "smart weapons" for the airplane. It is the first in a series of flights to establish the JDAM safe separation envelopes and functionality of accessory equipment such as the arming lanyard and umbilical, fuze.

Prior to this flight event, extensive wind tunnel testing and separation pre-flight analysis was conducted by a joint effort between Boeing, St. Louis, and NAVAIR engineering. Data from the separation flight tests will be correlated with the wind tunnel predictive analysis and used for further analysis.

This flight represented another first as well, as discussed by Walt Williams, F/A-18E/F Weapons Integration Team leader.

"Qualitatively, the separation looked well behaved," Williams said. "We were able to evaluate the separation about one hour after the flight because this was also the first use of the high-speed video system to collect project data. The images looked good.

"We are still learning about the system and look forward to using it in the future," Williams added.

The high-speed video system, called the Airborne Separation Video System (ASVS), is a new tool developed to increase the efficiency of air vehicle/store compatibility testing. The ASVS is a high-speed digital imaging system that is expected to provide benefits such as multiple buildup separation test points per flight (since the store separation images can be telemetered to a ground station for qualitative analysis for near real-time analysis), a pre-release preview capability to ensure the cameras are functioning and image exposure is adequate, quicker turnaround between flights (no film processing requirements); and lower costs associated with not having to purchase, process, and dispose of the film.

This was not the first time JDAM has flown on the Super Hornet. Captive carriage work with JDAM was conducted in the past year for performance, flying qualities, and limited noise and vibration evaluation. This first separation flight was a culmination of a comprehensive government/contractor team effort.

In addition to further separation work, future JDAM tests will include additional captive carriage work, dynamic stores response testing, carrier suitability testing, electromagnetic compatibility testing, and functional testing.

JDAM integration is planned to support the first deployment of the F/A-18 E/F and is a high priority weapon load requirement.