The smart weapon enables operators to hit moving targets in all-weather conditions
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has awarded Raytheon Missiles and Defense a $250 million contract modification, putting the contract’s total value at $700 million. The contract encompasses “design, development, integration, test and production engineering for changes to the SDB II GBU-53/B technical and production baseline.”
U.S Air Force earlier drop-tested 14 StormBreaker smart weapons from F-15E Strike Eagle in the 2021 Weapons System Evaluation Program. The U.S. Navy also plans to integrate the missile with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft.
Alison Howlett, who serves as StormBreaker program director at Raytheon Missiles and Defense, said that the tests were critical to pave the way for the weapon to be used in combat. “By stress-testing the weapon in an operational environment, we are even more confident in the weapon’s ability to strike targets in difficult conditions,” Howlett said.
The F-15E can carry five groups of four StormBreaker smart weapons, for a total of 20 munitions. Depending on the mission, the F-15EX Strike Eagle II can carry more than 16 StormBreaker weapons, according to Raytheon.
The StormBreaker smart weapon enables operators an upper hand in combat by hitting moving targets in some of the worst weather conditions. “The winged munition autonomously detects and classifies moving targets in poor visibility situations caused by darkness, bad weather, smoke or dust kicked up by helicopters.”
The weapon’s tri-mode seeker shares targeting information among all three modes, enabling StormBreaker to engage fixed or moving targets at any time of day and in all weather conditions.
GBU-53/B multi-attack modes:
- Normal Attack for moving and stationary targets in adverse or clear weather.
- Coordinate Attack for fixed targets in heavily defended environments.
- Immediate Attack for close in or pop-up opportunity targets; rapid employment, flies predictable flight path.
- Laser Illuminated Attack for hit-the-spot precision.
