Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)

SDB is designed to destroy a variety of targets, penetrate over 1.20 meters of steel reinforced concrete while inflicting minimum collateral damage, from ranges of 70km (40nm). The US Air Force plans to use these weapons with its fleet of F-15E, F/A-22, F-35 and unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV). Current plans call for procurement of 24,000 SDBs and associated Diamond Back kits over the period 2005 – 2015. SDB will also offer extended range capability, utilizing standoff, precision attack gliding kits such as the Diamond Back, offered by MBDA. Other SDB enhancements include seekerless configurations, such as the Lockheed Martin PNAV.

September 8, 2006: USAF F-15Es recently received the new 250 pound Small Diameter Bomb I weapon, offering precision-guided accuracy within 1.2 meters of the aim point. The weapons are expected to equip the USAF 494th Fighter Squadron scheduled to deploys to Southwest Asia later this year. The squadron will be the first to use the Air Force's new Guided Bomb Unit-39 bomb fitted with diamond-back wings that enable the weapon to glide to its target from a stand-off distance.

This high accuracy combined with a smaller warhead enables the fighters to achieve the effects while minimizing potential collateral damage. With the introduction of SDB I to the Air Force inventory, the Strike Eagle aircrews also benefit from increased weapon employment range. SDB I has a standoff range of up to 60 nautical miles in front of the aircraft, 40 miles to the left and right of the aircraft and can even turn around and attack targets behind the aircraft. Each SDB can be targeted at a specific target. Targeting programming can be done on the ground or updated while airborne, before release. All bombs can be targeted separately or directed to attack a single target, as required.

SDB I enables the Strike eagles to carry four weapons on every precision-guided missile weapon station; four weapons in place of one. The four-place carriage (BRU-61/A) developed and manufactured by the Boeing Team to carry SDBs virtually eliminates periodic maintenance and cleaning. It's a pneumatically operated carriage versus the traditional, explosively operated carriage that fires a cartridge to release the weapon. After a number of firings, these current inventory carriages must be cleaned, a labor-intensive operation.

The US Air Force is developing a Focused Lethality Munition warhead for the Small Diameter Bomb. The new warhead employs multi-phase blast explosive and a composite carbon fiber warhead case, allowing for pinpoint strikes with low collateral damage. The FLM warhead technology was developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the U.S Air Force Research Laboratory. Under a US$27 million Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program contract awarded in September 2006, Boeing will incorporate the FLM technology into the SDB I system, perform a series of ground and flight tests, and manufacture a limited number of FLM weapons. Boeing is expected to deliver the first 50 weapons for operational assessment in January 2008, with the Air Force procuring as many as 450 SDB I FLM units through 2012.

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully completed the first flight of the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB II) weapon system May 22 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The weapon is capable of hitting moving targets under all-weather conditions. SDB family of weapons developed by Boeing quadruples the number of weapons an aircraft can carry, enabling aircrews to attack more targets on each sortie. Boeing and Lockheed Martin won one of two U.S. Air Force contracts for the competitive risk reduction phase of the SDB II program in April 2006. The Air Force is expected to award a sole source contract for the SDB II system design and development phase by late 2009. Boeing, the prime contractor, will supply the air vehicle, a derivative of SDB I, as well as the network data link system. Lockheed Martin, is responsible for the multi-mode seeker system.