Thales Australia Limited has completed the first production lot of Australian-made BLU-111 air-dropped munitions which can be utilised by the F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters of the Royal Australian Air Force.
The 500-lb (227-kg) munitions, which are being manufactured at Benalla, Victoria and Mulwala, NSW, will have the same range and performance metrics as current General Purpose Bombs but will be significantly safer to store, transport and operate.
This is on account of the BLU-111 using a plastic-bonded explosive known as PBXN-109 as its explosive filler, compared with the externally similar Mk 82 aerial bomb, which is filled with Composition H6 that is more sensitive to accidental detonation.
When added with a guidance kit such the Paveway laser seeker or GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, the BLU-111 can be transformed into a precision guided bomb for accurate all-weather operations
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price MP said 15 Australian companies, including five small businesses, were delivering this important capability for Defence.
“This work establishes a strategically important sovereign manufacturing capability to support the Australian Defence Force,” Minister Price said.
“It is a practical example of the Government’s ongoing commitment to domestic manufacturing of munitions, which is one of the 10 Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities under the 2018 Defence Industrial Capability Plan.”
The Government released the Sovereign Industrial Capability Priority Industry Plan for Munitions and Small Arms Research, Design, Development and Manufacture last year, which states that “Australian industry must be able to manufacture propellants, munitions, ammunition and small arms that provide our soldiers with a warfighting advantage.”
