Raytheon has released an image of its winning Small Diameter Bomb Increment II design. The illustration shows details of the GBU-53/B, such as its antenna placement. This air-delivered munition, dubbed SDB II, is meant to attack both stationary and moving targets in any kind of weather via its tri-mode seeker. The Air Force on Monday chose the GBU-53/B over a competing design offered by a Boeing-Lockheed Martin team. Raytheon is expected to start delivering SDB IIs in 2013 for carriage on platforms like the F-15E and F-35. Boeing builds the SDB I, which is designed to strike fixed targets.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.