The Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser is a guidance kit added to existing cluster bombs to provide a greater degree of terminal accuracy. The program began in FY95, and in January 1995, Alliant Techsystems and Lockheed Martin were selected for the engineering manufacturing development phase of this program. A contract for production of the WCMD was awarded to Lockheed Martin on 27 January 1997, and a contract for low rate initial production was approved in July 1999. The full rate production contract was awarded to Lockheed in April 2001. Initial operational capability was reached in the summer of 2000 on the F-16 and B-52, and it was first used extensively in combat in late 2001 over Afghanistan. The Air Force was developing an extended range version with an added GPS guidance package and planned to procure 7,500 WCMD-ER kits through FY12. However, in late 2004, the WCMD-ER was cancelled as a cost-cutting measure; due to a Congressional add-on, 420 kits were funded in FY05-07 for use with the SFW pay load as the CBU-115. As a result, FY07 was the last year of USAF procurement funding for the WCMD, with the purchases totaling about 27,426 kits.
展开▼
