[IMRA: F-35 is single seater] Currently, the F-35’s ability to strike moving
targets is somewhat limited, requiring the pilot to manually direct a GBU-12
to its destination.
Raytheon pushes GBU-49 as quick fix to give F-35 ability to hit moving
targets
By: Valerie Insinna, June 26, 2017
http://www.defensenews.com/articles/raytheon-pushing-gbu-49-as-quick-fix-to-give-f-35-ability-to-hit-moving-targets

LE BOURGET, France — Once Raytheon gets approval from the Pentagon to
integrate its GBU-49 guided bomb with the F-35, it will take only a couple
months to wrap up the necessary testing, a company official told Defense
News on Thursday.

The U.S. Air Force and more recently the U.S. Marine Corps have identified
Raytheon’s GBU-49 as the quickest way to give the F-35 the ability to
prosecute moving targets. Currently, the F-35’s ability to strike moving
targets is somewhat limited, requiring the pilot to manually direct a GBU-12
to its destination.

The Air Force has since issued a request for information seeking details
about precision-guided munitions that would allow the F-35 to hit moving
targets — potentially broadening its search into a competition. However,
Mike Jarrett, Raytheon’s vice president of air warfare systems, believes the
service will ultimately opt to sole source the GBU-49 from Raytheon.

“We have the capability in our inventory today, and we don't believe that
anybody else does,” he said. “That’s the reason why we were able to do an
accelerated integration. That's why we convinced the services to put it in
3f,” the software for the F-35 when the aircraft reaches full operational
capability.

The GBU-49 was designed with built-in “lead laser capability” that allows
the bomb to calculate how far a target will move, an ability the F-35’s
suite of weapons doesn’t have in its 3i configuration, or the current
software that has been in use since the aircraft hit initial operational
capability last year.

Integrating GBU-49 with the F-35 can be done within the “single digital
months” because much of the necessary activities have already taken place.
GBU-49’s interfaces are very similar to the dual-mode Paveway 4 — which has
already been integrated on the joint strike fighter for the U.K. — and its
size and flight characteristics are comparable to the GBU-12 that’s part of
the F-35’s 3i weapons load. Much of the ground-based testing has already
been completed by Raytheon and F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin,
Jarrett explained.

The U.S. services “will do a few flight test drops,” he said, “but we as a
company have worked with Lockheed in their facilities in Fort Worth in the
lab environment to make sure that the interfaces and everything are what
they need to be.”

Once the U.S. services adopts GBU-49, it’s likely other F-35 customers will
as well, which could ultimately boost sales of the weapon, Jarrett said.