The US Marine Corps (USMC) modified support equipment to allow the guided bomb unit (GBU)-49 munition to be used on the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) variant.
When the USMC chose GBU-49 for the F-35B, it needed a piece of support equipment to load the weapon onto the aircraft. However, the conduit on the weapon did not fit the current weapons loader until a team from Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst, New Jersey, modified the adapter, the ADU-894A/E, and delivered it on schedule to the USMC in November, according to a US Navy (USN) statement.
A GBU 49 is loaded onto an F-35B on the flight deck of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on 12 December 2018. The USN modified an adapter, the white collar being removed by USMC Corporal Randle Lane (left), to load GBU-49 on the F-35B because the weapon’s conduit did not fit the current weapons loader. (USN)
The NAWCAD Lakehurst Airborne Weapons Support Equipment (AWSE) branch was tasked to develop an adapter that could not only provide loading capability for the GBU-49, but for all MK-82 smart bombs to be loaded on the F-35B. The goal was to develop, test, build, and deliver the adapters within nine months.
John Peterson, project lead, said on 20 March that GBU-49 is part of the Enhanced Paveway II family of smart bombs. A wiring conduit is mounted externally on the body, enabling the weapon’s nose seeker to communicate with the tail guidance system when in flight.
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