Forum: General F-35 Forum

It may go in the same place and have a longer & faster flight.

But, this will be at the cost of warhead size.

However, I have no problem with this as you can mix & match them with SDB 1/2 to offer increased flexibility in your mission planning.

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SPEAR designed to attack over-the-horizon mobile targets By Doug Richardson Aug/2/2012

http://www.janes.com/products/janes/def ... hannel=air

"As the weapon's designation suggests, missile developer and manufacturer MBDA is developing its SPEAR air-to-surface missile to meet the UK's Selective Precision Effect At Range requirement. Intended to allow the engagement of mobile, fleeting and re-locatable targets far beyond the horizon, SPEAR will also keep the launch aircraft out of the coverage of enemy air-defence units.

The configuration revealed at the recent Farnborough 2012 Airshow is significantly different from that publicised earlier this year under the designation 100B. The new weapon has a fuselage of circular cross-section, dorsally mounted flip-out wings that fold rearward for stowage and three folding tail surfaces. (The earlier 100B design had a fuselage of rectangular cross-section and four tail fins arranged in an X configuration.)

According to MBDA, SPEAR will be less than 2 m long in order to fit within the weapons bay of the F-35, about 18 cm in diameter and will weigh less than 100 kg. Four will be carried on a dedicated launcher in each of the aircraft's internal weapons bays, while others could be carried in the aircraft's underwing pylons. The same pattern of launcher will also be compatible with the hardpoints of the Eurofighter Typhoon...."

Have to buy JANEs for the rest.

I found a SPEAR video on MBDA's website and hosted it on Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPpfoak-LQA

Spear and Cuda have similar footprints... funny if Cuda might have a secondary A2G capability..,great for DEAD work,to complement SDB.

Will SPEAR and CUDA fit on the BRU-61/A?

That is not know at this time

marksengineer wrote:

Will SPEAR and CUDA fit on the BRU-61/A?

No confirmation if this is the case but one can see the rationale and benefits of designig weapons to be compatible with an existing launch mechanism instead of reinventing the wheel.

It would also allow for a mix of weapons on the same BRU (1xSDB1, 1xSDB2, 1xSpear, 1xCUDA).

SpudmanWP wrote:

It would also allow for a mix of weapons on the same BRU (1xSDB1, 1xSDB2, 1xSpear, 1xCUDA).

Yeah, that too.. I look forward to more developments like Cuda leveraging the launcher and (presumably) UAI to provide an ala carte menu of weapons choices to best get the job done.

So, how many BRUs can the F-35 carry (including non-VLO)? 6, or just 4?

Internally and externally the F-35 can carry 8 BRU-61s (the inner wing pylon can carry two BRU-61s using a BRU-69 (aka MPBR)).

Let's be clear, you will never see that in combat.

SpudmanWP wrote:

Internally and externally the F-35 can carry 8 BRU-61s (the inner wing pylon can carry two BRU-61s using a BRU-69 (aka MPBR)).

Let's be clear, you will never see that in combat.

I knew I was going to get the terminology messed up commenting on the fly like that. I meant the quad rack that the SDB sits on. The F-35 can carry two of those internally, but can it carry two or four of them externally?

6 externally....

Read my post again.

The BRU-61 is the quad-rack that the SDB is attached to. Each of the 6 A2G stations (2 internal & 4 external) can handle one of these without any further equipment needed (for a total of 24 SDB).

The inner A2G wing station can fit two BRU-61s if it uses a BRU-69 adapter for a total of 32 SDBs. Like I said, you will never see this in combat.

The BRU-69 has already been fitted to both wing stations in ground tests.

SpudmanWP wrote:

6 externally....

Read my post again.

The BRU-61 is the quad-rack that the SDB is attached to. Each of the 6 A2G stations (2 internal & 4 external) can handle one of these without any further equipment needed (for a total of 24 SDB).

The inner A2G wing station can fit two BRU-61s if it uses a BRU-69 adapter for a total of 32 SDBs. Like I said, you will never see this in combat.

The BRU-69 has already been fitted to both wing stations in ground tests.

Thanks for setting me strait on that.
32 SDB size bombs or missiles does seem excessive.

count_to_10 wrote:

SpudmanWP wrote:

6 externally....

Read my post again.

The BRU-61 is the quad-rack that the SDB is attached to. Each of the 6 A2G stations (2 internal & 4 external) can handle one of these without any further equipment needed (for a total of 24 SDB).

The inner A2G wing station can fit two BRU-61s if it uses a BRU-69 adapter for a total of 32 SDBs. Like I said, you will never see this in combat.

The BRU-69 has already been fitted to both wing stations in ground tests.

Thanks for setting me strait on that.
32 SDB size bombs or missiles does seem excessive.

Don't forget you can hang 4 more Cudas internally i.e. 2 per bay door plus one apiece,on,each external A2A station giving a grand total of 38.

Forum: General F-35 Forum

MBDA sharpens Spear missile design for F-35 integration