Kaman receives new order for reprogrammable bomb fuzes

BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Kaman Corporation reports it is supplying its Joint Programmable Fuzes to an unidentified foreign country beginning this year.

The fuzes are used on a variety of bombs and can be reprogrammed on-wing as a delay fuze for hardened buried targets, as a surface impact fuze for surface point targets, and as an altitude burst fuze when used with a proximity sensor to attack area targets.

The order -- the result of a direct sales contract -- is worth an expected $93 million.

"This order drives our JPF backlog, already at a record level, to over $300 million," said Greg Steiner, president of Kaman's Aerospace Group. "The JPF fuze provides excellent operational flexibility due to its ability to be programmed on-wing and has demonstrated superior field reliability for more than a decade.

"Kaman is the only source of the product, and we have undertaken a significant expansion of our JPF capacity to meet the strong worldwide demand for the fuze and this order further supports that decision."

Kaman has been the sole provider of the JPF to the USAF since 2002 and also supplies its JPF to 26 countries. It is produced at company facilities in Florida and Connecticut.

Delivery of the fuzes ordered will be completed next year.