The U.S. Navy has approved Raytheon’s StormBreaker® smart weapon for operational use on the F/A-18-E/F Super Hornet strike fighter. Raytheon is an RTX (NYSE: RTX) business. The GBU-53/B StormBreaker Smart Weapon, previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II, is an American air-launched, precision-guided glide bomb. StormBreaker is the only operational smart weapon that can engage moving and stationary targets in both fair and adverse weather conditions, at land or at sea. Its compact size allows a single aircraft to engage more surface targets than previously possible. The weapon can also fly to strike mobile targets, reducing the amount of time that aircrews spend in harm’s way. It has had exceptional performance in combat on the aircraft.
The bomb can use GPS/INS to guide itself into the general vicinity of a moving target during the initial search phase, with course correction updates provided using a Link 16 over UHF data link. The bomb has three modes of target acquisition: millimeter-wave radar, infrared homing using an uncooled imaging seeker, and semi-active laser homing. The weapon is capable of fusing the information from the sensors to classify the target and can prioritize certain types of targets as desired when used in semi-autonomous mode. The shaped charge warhead in the bomb has both blast and fragmentation effects, which makes it effective against infantry, armor, unhardened structures and buildings, as well as patrol craft sized boats and other soft targets. The bomb would be the first purpose-built no-drive zone enforcement weapon.
“The Super Hornet plays a critical role in the Navy’s air combat strategy and equipping it with StormBreaker increases the aircraft’s lethality by enabling precision strike in all weather conditions,” said Sam Deneke, president of Air & Space Defense Systems at Raytheon. “StormBreaker’s accuracy and versatility gives operators the upper hand in the most degraded environments, ensuring they can complete the mission and return home safely.”
The use of uncooled imaging infrared has been cited as innovative and effective in reducing costs. An important feature of the new weapon is maximizing the number of bombs carried by the strike aircraft. A total of 28 GBU-53/B can be carried by the F-15E Strike Eagle using seven BRU-61/A suspension units, each carrying four bombs. Eight bombs along with two AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles can be carried in the weapons bay of the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II (even the STOVL F-35B). The SDB II bomb rack originally did not fit inside the smaller F-35B weapons bay. A modification will be provided to coincide with the software package. An F-35 can carry 24 total bombs, 8 internally and 16 externally.
In July 2018, Raytheon announced that the SDB II, recently renamed StormBreaker, had entered operational testing; the weapon had achieved a 90% success rate during developmental testing. The StormBreaker was approved for operational use onboard the F-15E in September 2020. In 2023, the Super Hornet became the first U.S. Navy aircraft to carry StormBreaker. The Navy declared Early Operational Capability (EOC) of the StormBreaker on the F/A-18E/F in October 2023, and is currently being integrated on the F-35A/B/C. In March 2025, F/A-18 Super Hornets onboard the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) were photographed carrying GBU-53/B StormBreakers on a nighttime strike against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Raytheon, an RTX business, is a leading provider of defense solutions to help the U.S. government, allies and partners defend their national sovereignty and ensure their security. For more than 100 years, Raytheon has developed new technologies and enhanced existing capabilities in integrated air and missile defense, smart weapons, missiles, advanced sensors and radars, interceptors, space-based systems, hypersonics and missile defense across land, air, sea and space. RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation, is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitalization, as well as one of the largest providers of intelligence services.
