BRU-57 Smart Weapons Rack Certified for F-16

Released on Thursday, April 29, 2004

The Lockheed-Martin F-16 multirole aircraft smart weapons capacity has been doubled thanks to certification of EDO Corporation's BRU-57 smart weapons rack on the successful F-16 platform.

The new weapons rack has two stations, each with MIL-STD-1760 interfaces for smart weapons, which can transfer flight and targeting data to the weapon immediately prior to release. The BRU57-equipped F-16 will carry up to 4 1,000-lb (500 kg) class bombs instead of only two.

Doubling the payload of smart weapons means doubling the number of targets to be destroyed per sortie. The US Air Force has already certified the CBU-103/104/105/107 Wind Corrected Munitions (WCMD) Dispenser models using the BRU-57 rack on its Block 40/42/50/52 F-16 aircraft. AGM-154 JSOW will be certified in late this year and 500-lb and 1,000-lb JDAM bombs are also compatible with BRU-57 rack.

The BRU-57 smart weapons rack is currently in production for the United States Air Force (USAF).