The SMKB (Smart-MK-Bomb) is a guidance kit that turns a standard

Mk 82 The Mark 82 (Mk 82) is an unguided, low- drag general-purpose bomb, part of the United States Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is usually tritonal, though other compositions have sometimes been used. Development and deployment W ...

(500 lbs) and

Mk 83 The Mark 83 is part of the Mark 80 series of low-drag general-purpose bombs in United States service. Development and deployment The nominal weight of the bomb is 1,000 lb (454 kg), although its actual weight varies between 985 ...

(1.000 lbs) into a Precision-guided weapon, respectively called SMKB-82 and SMKB-83. The kit provides extended range up to and are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to three satellites networks, relying on wireless to handle the flow of data between the aircraft and the munition.

Development

In April 2009, AEQ and

Mectron SIATT is a Brazilian company headquartered in São José dos Campos, São Paulo. It is a company focused on high-tech market, especially for the defense industry. The company was founded on 2015 as Mectron through an association of engineers fro ...

, defense division of Odebrecht Organisation, displayed at LAAD 2009 the first mock-up of a Brazilian precision guided weapons kit. Development of the SMKB was officially started in November 2009, and included a partnership with the

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

, through the "General Command of Aerospatial Technology" (Comando-Geral de Tecnologia Aeroespacial, CTA). In the early stages of development, it was tested with GPS as the only

satellite navigation A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pr ...

network, however it is known that the U.S. (and other nations) have methods and devices to interfere with the satellite signal ( jamming), thereby degrading weapon accuracy. In order to improve the resilience against jamming, it was decided to create a guide system, capable of operating with three satellite navigation networks:

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), Galileo (

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

) and

GLONASS GLONASS (russian: ГЛОНАСС, label=none, ; rus, links=no, Глобальная навигационная спутниковая система, r=Global'naya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema, t=Global Navigation Satellite System) is ...

(

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

). The software coupled to the SMKB reads simultaneously and individually the three systems and assesses the positioning based on a verification algorithm, which provides greater reliability, because the data are crossed to allow correct positioning. In addition, the company has developed anti-jamming capability with encrypted software which provides complete system integrity, also enhanced by the use of a highly directive

radiation pattern In the field of antenna design the term radiation pattern (or antenna pattern or far-field pattern) refers to the ''directional'' (angular) dependence of the strength of the radio waves from the antenna or other source.Constantine A. Balanis: “A ...

. Super Tucano aircraft were used during a 2 weeks long trials at which the first in-flight launch of the weapon took place in December 2010 at

Natal Air Force Base Natal Air Force Base – ALA10 is a base of the Brazilian Air Force, located in Parnamirim, near Natal, Brazil. History Originally called Parnamirim Airport, this facility had an important role during World War II as a strategic base for a ...

. The SMKB-82 was cleared for use with the AMX, F-5, Kfir and Super Tucano by December 2012. Qualification test for SMKB-83 are scheduled to commence in 2013

Variants

*SMKB-82 - Kit for Mk-82 *SMKB-83 - Kit for Mk-83

References

External links

Mectron: Smart WeaponsAEQ: SMKB-82 - Wireless Systems (official brochure)
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Aerial bombs of Brazil Guided missiles of Brazil Guided bombs

Development

Variants

See also

References

External links