Gilding the glide bomb: SDB Ⅱ targets service entry

摘要

On 11 May 2015, Frank Kendall Ⅲ, the Pentagon's Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, signed off the Milestone C acquisition decision memorandum approving the GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb Increment Ⅱ (SDB Ⅱ) air-launched precision-attack weapon for low-rate initial production (LRIP). This has paved the way for the award to Raytheon Missile Systems of the LRIP Lot 1 contract, the USD 31 million option for which was exercised on 12 June by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center "We're going to start Lot 1 deliveries within 12 months," Jim Sweetman, Raytheon's SDB Ⅱ programme director, told IHS Jane's, adding, "We have a mature, low-risk design, we have tooled up our production line, and we have [a] long lead already in play for some of the more sophisticated subassemblies."