Ceremony set to transition SFW

Published Sept. 15, 2009
By Lois Walsh
Team Eglin Public Affairs

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Plans are set to celebrate the success of a workhorse weapon in the Air Force arsenal.

Government workers and contractors will come together Sept. 24 at the Air Armament Museum to commemorate the transition of the Sensor Fuzed Weapon from the program office here at Eglin AFB to the Ogden Air Logistics Center (OO-ALC), Hill AFB, Utah. The weapon development is complete, and therefore it is ready to transition to the logistics center.

The ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m., is open to anyone who was involved with the weapon's development, which started as a concept in the late 1970's, went through live fire testing in the early 1990's, and has been in full-scale production since 1996.

An excellent teaming relationship between the program office and the SFW contractor, Textron, has been key to the accomplishments of the program, said Lt. Col. Bill Polakowski, 328th Armament Systems Group vice commander and former 683rd Armament Systems Squadron commander.

"We have a real success story with our contractor in making this weapon work effectively while being cost effective," Colonel Polakowski said. "The accomplishments highlight the success of Air Force acquisition which successfully developed this weapon, used it in war, and saved warfighters' lives."

The goal when transitioning a program is to transition it when the balance of development and production are complete and the majority of the work is in the sustainment of the weapon system. OO-ALC will be responsible for managing the SFW inventory, keeping it at peak availability for the warfighter and conducting any minor modifications that might be needed over SFW's lifecycle. The center will continue to test SFW's performance under the annual Weapon System Evaluation Program.

Col. Perry Oaks, 784th Combat Sustainment Group commander, said Hill Air Force Base is proud to take on the Sensor Fuzed Weapon.

"We look forward to new and continued partnerships to maintain this crucial capability for the warfighter," he said. "It's exciting that Hill will now provide and sustain the Air Force's only smart area attack weapon that can detect and destroy multiple targets with one weapon."

A classic scene during Operation Iraqi Freedom involved a B-52 flying high over Iraq when its aircrew stopped an entire tank column by dropping two SFWs on it. The SFW provides multiple kills per weapon because it comes packed inside a Tactical Munitions Dispenser and is comprised of 10 submunitions with 40 skeet warheads. The warheads use both active and passive sensors to find their target. SFW can be used against a variety of targets including armored personnel vehicles, battle tanks, mobile anti-aircraft artillery, mobile missile launchers, parked aircraft and self-propelled artillery. The most recent upgrade included a maritime interdiction capability.

"The SFW was used more than 60 times in combat," Colonel Polakowski said. "It's not currently being used since there are no large mechanized enemy formations in our current wars, but it's in the inventory ready for use in the event of future conflicts."

The colonel said there is a bright future for SFW in foreign military sales for allied militaries. And transitioning the weapon has its advantages for the Air Armament Center.

"Doing the SFW transition at this time frees up the AAC personnel and resources to go work on new development programs where our expertise and mission lies," he said. "It also allows the logistics center to do its function to sustain a weapon that has successfully completed development.

"All those who have been part of the SFW legacy are invited to share in that success," Colonel Polakowski said.