The Air Force on Monday chose Raytheon to supply the small diameter bomb increment II system and awarded the company a $451 million contact to start engineering and manufacturing development. The company bested a Boeing-Lockheed Martin team vying to build the new munition, which is an air-launched, precision-strike standoff weapon designed to take out moving and fixed targets in all weather conditions. “Raytheon proved we can provide the warfighter a low-risk, affordable solution that meets their needs,” said Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president, in the company’s release. Raytheon’s design is designated the GBU-53/B. It features a seeker with millimeter-wave radar, uncooled imaging infrared, and semiactive laser modes. Bomb deliveries are expected to begin in 2013. Air Force F-15Es and Marine Corps and Navy F-35s will be the initial platforms to carry SDB IIs. (See also DOD’s contract list for Aug. 9)
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.