Northrop Grumman wins contract to produce FMU-167/B for USAF. Credit: US Air Force / Bobbi Zapka.

The US Air Force (USAF) has awarded a $110m contract to Northrop Grumman to produce FMU-167/B, which is also known as the Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze (HTVSF).

The all-electronic, cockpit programmable, intelligent HTVSF can destroy deeply buried targets.

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Additionally, the fuse is capable of providing delay arming and detonation times. It also offers a void-sensing capability that allows for its precision activation.

Northrop Grumman missile products vice-president Pat Nolan said: “Northrop Grumman’s Hard Target Void Sensing Fuze takes the guesswork out of understanding the timing required to reach the target.

“We continue to make investments in sophisticated fuses to help ensure US warfighters and our allies are equipped with the best tools to complete their missions.”

The company noted that the FMU-167/B fuse continuously demonstrated improved survivability, reliability and accuracy of detonation in penetrating weapons during testing.

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The FMU-167/B has been designed to drive a bomb through metres of concrete and rock while counting voids that are indicative of a deeply buried underground complex.

It counts these voids and can detonate at a preprogrammed location within the structure, defeating the high-value assets of the adversaries.

Additionally, the HTVSF features advanced sensors, robust algorithms and hardened electronics technology that provide improved performance ability to the combatant against tactical targets.

Last month, Northrop Grumman won an $85m order to produce FMU-139D/B general-purpose bomb fuses to increase the USAF inventory.

The USAF awarded the first full-rate production (FRP) contract to Orbital ATK in January 2018 for the development of the advanced FMU-167/B fuse.