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The Pentagon is considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with cheap, small precision bombs fitted onto abundantly available rockets, allowing Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines as the West struggles to meet demand for more arms. U.S. and allied military inventories are shrinking, and Ukraine faces an increasing need for more sophisticated weapons as the war drags on. Boeing's proposed system, dubbed Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), is one of about a half-dozen plans for getting new munitions into production for Ukraine and America's Eastern European allies, industry sources said. GLSDB could be delivered as early as spring...

The U.S. Air Force’s Small Diameter Bomb II program has seen such large cost overruns that the service will force the manufacturer, Raytheon, to absorb some of the increases, amounting to nearly $40 million. Both parties insist that the present production and delivery schedule won’t suffer, which is important given the present plan is for the precision guided munitions to become a core weapon system for a variety of American combat aircraft, especially the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. On Oct. 18, 2017, the Air Force acknowledged that Raytheon had run out of “financial liability” in its deal to develop the...

A brace of Raytheon small diameter bombs hang from a U.S. Air Force F-15E. The Strike Eagle will be the first operational platform for the second edition SDB II. After a six-month delay caused by a couple of test failures, the world’s most sophisticated air-launched bomb is back on track. The Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II passed the Pentagon’s Milestone C review last month, and will soon enter low-rate initial production. The SDB II has a ”tri-mode” seeker that allows simultaneous attacks in adverse weather and against moving targets at up to 40 nm range, from a subsonic launch...

Boeing and Saab in February demonstrated a new version of Boeing’s small diameter bomb that can be safely fired from a ground artillery system. Now, they have to find their first customer, executives said March 10. The companies completed three successful launches of the weapon last month during tests in Vidsel, Sweden, said Beth Kluba, Boeing’s vice president of weapons and missile systems. They could deliver the capability as early as 18 months after the first contract is signed. "We did a series of shots over a couple of weeks and had success with each one of them,” she said....

Israel's F-15Is get small diameter bombs By Arie Egozi The Israeli air force has armed its Boeing F-15Is with the US manufacturer's small diameter bomb (SDB). The precision-guided weapon comes in two variants: the 113kg (250lb) GBU-39, which uses inertial navigation and GPS guidance to strike fixed and stationary targets, and the GBU-40. The latter is equipped with a terminal seeker with automatic target recognition capabilities for use against moving targets. The F-15I is the first Israeli type to field the SDB, with the air force expecting the combination to achieve initial operational capability by mid-2011. The service is currently...

Israel has received the first of the thousand new U.S. 250 pound (actually 285/129 kg) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB, or GBU-39) it ordered earlier this year. Apparently these weapons arrived quickly, and it's believed that some SDBs have already been used during Israeli air raids on Gaza. Earlier, the Israeli had received a few SDBs for evaluation, and some of these were apparently dropped as well. The SDB is not cheap, Israel paid about $77,000 for each one. It was believed that Israel wanted this weapon not just for its precision, and low explosive (17 kg/38 pounds) power, but also...

It was always something of a mystery why the U.S. Air Force developed the 285 pound (129 kg) Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The official story was that this GPS guided smart bomb was needed for urban warfare. The smaller blast (17kg/38 pounds of explosives, compared to 127 kg/280 pounds for the 500 pound bomb) from the SDB resulted in fewer civilian casualties. Friendly troops can be closer to the target when an SDB explodes. While the 500, 1,000 and 2,000 pound bombs have a spectacular effect when they go off, they are often overkill. The troops on the ground would...

ST. LOUIS, August 26, 2005 – Four Boeing [NYSE:BA] Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) were released on Aug. 25 from two separate carriages on a U.S. Air Force F-15E, testing the full capabilities of the SDB guided-weapon system. The test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was conducted at an altitude of 15,000 feet, approximately 20 nautical miles from four separate targets. After receiving target coordinates, the F-15E crew released the four bombs from two separate BRU-61 carriages. "Being able to hit more targets with fewer sorties is what the SDB was designed to do," said Boeing Weapons Enterprise Capability Center...

ST. LOUIS, July 27, 2005 – Two Boeing [NYSE:BA] Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) were dropped recently from the same aircraft, scoring direct hits on two separate targets. The test on July 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. was from an altitude of 15,000 feet. Released from a U.S. Air Force F-15E at Mach 0.95, each weapon performed a planned one hundred degree heading change, traveled approximately 18 miles across the range from the release point and attacked independent targets spaced 30 feet apart. "These were our 25 th and 26 th successful weapon flights and two of the more...

ST. LOUIS, June 1, 2005 – In the first of two flight tests this month, a Boeing [NYSE:BA] Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) flew more than 55 miles from an altitude of 30,000 feet, hitting within 34 inches of its planned impact point on a target barge in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the longest flight to date, and typical of the accuracy provided by the Small Diameter Bomb system. On average, the SDB has hit 42 inches from its targeted impact point. The May 11 test, near Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., was the first since the U.S. Air...