Raytheon Wins $93 Million to Integrate StormBreaker Bombs on Super Hornets

Raytheon has won $93 million contract, for Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) F/A-18E/F integration.

This contract provides for the testing, analysis, support and sustainment of SDB II weapon onto the F/A-18E/F platform with developmental and operational testing. Work is expected to be completed by July 1, 2023, the US department of defense said in a statement Thursday.

Raytheon’s StormBreaker bomb, formerly called the Small Diameter Bomb II or SDB II bomb can glide for miles and it carries a warhead, but what truly sets the guided weapon apart is its seeker, which operates in three modes: millimeter-wave radar, to track targets through any type of weather; imaging infrared, to distinguish targets from other objects; and laser, to follow either an airborne designator or one on the ground, according to the company website.

The StormBreaker bomb was built small, so fighter jets could carry more of them. It was also built smart, with a datalink that allows the pilot to change targets even as the weapon glides toward the ground.