Fri, Aug 29, 2003
Boeing's SDB Also Has a 23.5" Waist
The U.S. Air Force has
selected Boeing to continue development and production of the Small
Diameter Bomb (SDB). Upon completion of design and development, the
program should generate $2.5 billion in sales to the USAF.
The SDB is a 250-pound class precision-guided weapon launched
from a fighter, bomber or unmanned aircraft that will destroy
targets from a range of greater than 40 miles and penetrate more
than 4 feet of steel-reinforced concrete.
Boeing will build an
estimated 24,000 weapons and 2,000 carriages over the next ten
years at its production facility in St. Charles (MO), with the
first delivery scheduled in October 2005. The SDB will be fielded
on the F-15E and subsequently on the F/A-22, F-35 (Joint Strike
Fighter), Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems, and almost all other
weapons platforms.
Versatile little bugger:
"Aircrews must have an all-weather precision weapon available
that can destroy a wide range of targets with lethality while
minimizing collateral damage," said George Muellner, senior vice
president and general manager, Air Force Systems, for Boeing. "SDB
is that weapon and our talented team is committed to delivering
it."
They'll run out of targets, not bombs...
The SDB size, a compact 70 inches long and 7.5 inches wide,
allows for an increased weapons load on each aircraft. Carriages
designed by Boeing hold four SDBs (internally or externally) and
quadruple the number of possible targets destroyed per combat
sortie.
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