Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $79,398,158 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (GBU-53/B StormBreaker) lot integration and test. This contract effort will deliver all-up round (AUR) test vehicles, perform AUR-level assembly, checkout, testing and systems integration testing; and prepare for production cut-in and fielding for the multiple engineering changes needed, including National Security Agency (NSA) cryptographic modernization, Global Positioning System (GPS) military code, mitigation of part obsolescence, and design changes evolving from production and/or operations.
The GBU-53/B StormBreaker, previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II is an air-launched, precision-strike standoff weapon that will enable the warfighter to defeat moving and fixed targets in adverse weather conditions. Using a GPS/INS system to guide to the vicinity of a moving target, the weapon has the capability to receive updated target coordinates mid-flight via two-way datalink (Link-16 or UHF) communications. Using these network options, SDB II allows airborne or ground controllers the ability to send in-flight target updates and the capability to abort a mission post-release.
Development was started in 2006 for a 250 pounds (113 kg) class bomb that can identify and strike mobile targets from standoff distances in all weather conditions. Its first flight was announced on May 1, 2009. In July 2018, Raytheon announced that the SDB II had entered operational testing; the weapon had achieved a 90% success rate during developmental testing. The U.S. Air Force planned to declare the SDB II operational in September 2019, but a problem with the bomb’s backup fin storage clips, other hardware and software issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its introduction. The StormBreaker was approved for operational use onboard the F-15E in September 2020.
Work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed April 1, 2023. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Fiscal 2020 Air Force (USAF) missile procurement funds in the amount of $11,977,567; fiscal 2020 USAF research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds in the amount of $6,495,714; fiscal 2021 Navy (USN) RDT&E funds in the amount of $5,133,243; fiscal 2021 USN weapon procurement funds in the amount of $2,783,878; and fiscal 2019 Special Defense Acquisition Funds in the amount of $9,021,596 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity (FA8672-21-F-6052).
