Northrop Grumman to provide Air Force with flight line smart weapons test capability in $39 million deal

June 18, 2019
CMBRE test gear initiates built-in test (BIT), reports BIT results, uploads and downloads flight software during pre-flight and maintenance checks.

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – Text and measurement experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. are providing the U.S. Air Force with portable field test equipment that provides test and reprogramming capability for smart weapons intended for time-critical missions.

Officials of the Air Lifecycle Management Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., announced a $39 million contract Monday to the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems segment in Northridge, Calif., for Common Munition Built-In-Tester Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE) production units.

CMBRE is a portable field tester and mission programmer with a common interface that provides the warfighter seamless test and reprogramming capability of precision-guided smart weapons for time-critical missions.

Northrop Grumman will provide several pieces of CMBRE test equipment, including AN/GYQ-79A CMBRE Plus, ADU-890/E, ADU-891-(V) 1/E, ADU-891-(V) 3/E, CMBRE initial spares kits, CMBRE configuration items.

CMBRE is a common piece of support equipment to interface with weapon systems to initiate built-in tests, report BIT results, and upload and download flight software.

Related: Israeli Air Force chooses hand-held flight-line test system from Marvin for aircraft armament

Applications include conducting pre-flight checks and periodic maintenance checks; loading munitions flight program data and crypto keys; and declassifying munitions memory in flight line test.

CMBRE incorporates the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) common automated test systems (ATS) criteria to reduce costs, provide interoperability, ease logistics burdens, improve test quality, and reduce repair cycle time.

The Air Force and U.S. Navy use CMBRE as their tester for flight line and aircraft carrier testing of new weapons. The system is designed to verify the munition s built-in test (BIT) status, reprogram the munition's operational flight program, upload mission planning data, and upload and download Global Positioning System (GPS) data.

The CMBRE system, deployed worldwide, is for use in adverse and hazardous environments. It supports several new munitions, including AARGM, Sidewinder, AMRAAM, JSOW, JASSM, Harpoon, MALD, Paveway, JDAM, MOP, and Small Diameter Bomb.

On this contract Northrop Grumman will do the work in Northridge, Calif., and should be finished by June 2022. For more information contact Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems at www.northropgrumman.com.

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