Textron Defense Systems, an operating unit of Textron Systems, a Textron Inc. company, announced today that it has received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to produce 512 CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) units for the Government of India under a Foreign Military Sale agreement. The total value of the contract is $257 million with $126 million funded immediately.
"We believe that SFW is truly the best area attack weapon in the world. Through a process of rigorous research, testing and analysis, we have created a weapon that is reliable, safe and meets current clean battlefield standards," said Ellen Lord, senior vice president and general manager of Textron Defense Systems.
The Textron Defense Systems' combat-proven SFW is unique among munitions systems because of its redundant technologies for clean battlefield operation. SFW has been engineered to eliminate the risk of unacceptable harm to civilians or non-combatants. As a result, it is the only air-delivered weapon that meets the strict unexploded ordnance (UXO) criteria for cluster munitions — requiring less than one percent UXO in intended operational environments — set forth by the U.S. Secretary of Defense in June 2008.
The first and only combat-proven clean battlefield weapon of its kind in the U.S. Air Force inventory, the SFW contains Textron Defense Systems' BLU-108 submunition and smart Skeet warheads equipped with dual-mode passive infrared and active laser sensors. If a Skeet warhead does not detect a valid target over its lofted trajectory, one of its three safety modes will activate.
The first two modes enable the Skeet to self-destruct after eight seconds from launch or within a 50-foot (15 meters) altitude above the ground. Combined, these two features deliver greater than 99 percent reliability. The Skeet's third mode automatically renders the Skeet inoperable via self-deactivation within minutes of hitting the ground.
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