Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II on its way to production readiness

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Aviation defence equipment technology - Raytheon SDB II Milestone C
 
 
Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II on its way to production readiness
 
Raytheon Company and the U.S. Air Force completed three successful Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) program reviews prior to a mid-May Milestone C decision, the US-based company announced on April 9 in a statement. During March and April, the SDB II team successfully completed a functional configuration audit, a production readiness review and a system verification review (SVR). A successful Milestone C brief and decision clears the way for low rate initial production (LRIP) in 2015 for SDB II.
     
Raytheon Company and the U.S. Air Force completed three successful Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) program reviews prior to a mid-May Milestone C decision, the US-based company announced on April 9 in a statement. During March and April, the SDB II team successfully completed a functional configuration audit, a production readiness review and a system verification review (SVR). A successful Milestone C brief and decision clears the way for low rate initial production (LRIP) in 2015 for SDB II.
Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II
     

"Raytheon has fully tested SDB II and verified that we meet or exceed the requirements necessary for a Lot 1 production decision laid out in the specifications provided by the U.S. government," said Jim Sweetman, SDB II program director for Raytheon Missile Systems. "Every success moves us one step closer to delivering this game-changing capability to our U.S. warfighters."

The functional configuration audit, which took place at Raytheon Missile Systems' Tucson facility, assessed SDB II's functionality. The audit also verified through rigorous testing and documentation that SDB II is in compliance with the approved design. The production readiness review successfully proved that the current design of SDB II is ready for production, and the SVR was a product and process assessment to determine that SDB II is ready for LRIP.

The SDB II program will enter production after a successful Milestone C decision, and in the coming months will enter a focused Government Confidence Testing period, followed by operational test in 2016.

The seeker works in three different modes to provide maximum operational flexibility: a millimeter wave radar to detect and track targets through weather, an imaging infrared for enhanced target discrimination and a semi-active laser that enables the weapon to track an airborne laser designator or one on the ground.

This powerful, integrated seeker seamlessly shares targeting information among all three modes, enabling weapons to engage fixed or moving targets at any time of day and in all-weather conditions. SDB II's tri-mode seeker can also peer through battlefield dust and debris, giving the warfighter a capability that's unaffected by conditions on the ground or in the air.

SDB II can fly more than 45 miles to strike mobile targets, reducing aircrews' time in harm's way. The weapon's small size allows fewer aircraft to take out the same number of targets as previous, larger weapons that required multiple jets. SDB II's size has broader implications for the warfighter and taxpayers, as it means fewer attacks with less time spent flying dangerous missions.