ERAM: US to develop long-range munition for Ukraine

The United States is developing an inexpensive and easy-to-manufacture high-precision aircraft munition with a range of more than 400 kilometers specifically for Ukraine.

This became known from a request from the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) Weapons Directorate.

According to the request, the Air Force “seeks to fund the initial phase of development of a new aviation munition called ERAM”.

The document states that it “will be key to enhancing Ukraine’s capabilities and should be an affordable weapon type adapted for mass production.”

However, this is not the first mention of the ERAM project itself. Back in January of this year, the US Air Force released requirements for a new precision-guided munition.

According to them, it had to be placed on an aircraft platform and reach a subsonic speed of 200 m/s, covering a distance of at least 250 nautical miles (463 km).

The ERAM was to be equipped with a warhead weighing about 500 pounds (250 kg), which would have the proper penetrating and fragmentation effect. It should be equipped with a fuze with multiple modes of operation.

The accuracy of the munition is determined by the сircular error probable of up to 10 meters. Particular attention is paid to the ability of the navigation system to operate in the face of active countermeasures by enemy electronic warfare systems.

An important requirement for ERAM is the ability to rapidly scale up production: more than 1,000 munitions per year 24 months after the contract is signed.

Applicants

The U.S. Air Force Weapons Directorate has issued a request for proposals from companies, some of which already have ready-made proposals or prototypes and developments.

In particular, the ERAM requirements are met by Boeing’s PJDAM munition, which consists of a 500-pound bomb, guidance system, fuselage and Kratos-TDI-J85 jet engine that transforms a conventional bomb into a cruise missile.

Another alternative is the similar project JSOW-ER by Raytheon and Gray Wolf by Northrop Grumman.