The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag has cleared the way for the GBU-54 guided bomb procurement contract. The Bundeswehr needs a total of 2,290 ammunition systems, with delivery scheduled for between 2021 and 2024.
General contractor Diehl Defence has €213m at its disposal, which will be distributed among the five partners with subcontracts.
| Company | Description | Mio. Euro | Share |
| Diehl Defence | Project management, integration, certification | 30.4 | 14 % |
| Boeing | LJDAM guidance kit | 139.2 | 66 % |
| RWM Italia | Standard bomb bodies Mk-82 | 22.1 | 10 |
| Junghans Microtec | fuze FBM21-GER | 18.2 | 10 % |
| Northrop Grumman | Navigation | 2,7 | 1 |
The GBU-54 consists of the standard Mk-82 bomb body, weighing 277 kg, to which the troops mount the LJDAM guidance kit and fuze during preparation for deployment. Since the German Army has 1,380 Mk-82 bombs that can be used for this purpose, the stockpile is being replenished with an additional 910 Mk-82s.
The GBU-54 is to be delivered in five lots. Lots one to three will be used to procure guidance kits and fuzes for the existing bombs. In this phase, the bombs to be delivered will be subjected to acceptance testing and qualified. After successful qualification, lots four and five will be called up with complete GBU-54.
With the GBU-54 adapted to the EUROFIGHTER, the Bundeswehr will then have an all-weather precision guided munition for engaging even moving targets in the range of up to 30 km in scenarios with a high threat potential.
Gerhard Heiming
