Northrop Grumman awarded second HTVSF full-rate production order

The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded Northrop Grumman a second full-rate production order for the FMU-167/B Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF). Awarded in September 2019, but disclosed in late February 2020, the award is valued at USD110 million.

Developed under a USAF/US Navy Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) initiative, and managed by the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), the FMU-167/B HTVSF is an advanced all-electronic, cockpit programmable system designed to provide time-delay fuzing, multi-arming, and void-sensing functions for legacy and future penetrator weapon systems to enable the destruction of hard and deeply buried target (HDBT) sets protected by multiple layers of soil and/or reinforced concrete.

Uniquely, FMU-167/B is furnished with a void-sensing capability, which is capable of counting the number of ‘voids’ or critical mission spaces that are indicative of a deeply buried underground complex. By counting these voids, the FMU-167/B fuze, which is robust enough to survive a penetrator munition going through up to 15,000 psi concrete, detonate at a pre-programmed location within the structure, and defeat adversaries’ high-value assets.

“From a capability perspective, void sensing is the feature that differentiates this fuze from all of its predecessors,” Dave Fine, Vice President, Fuzing and Warheads at Northrop Grumman, told Jane’s .