GBU-53/B

Last updated
GBU-53/B StormBreaker
Stormbreaker mockup at Dubai Air Show 2019.jpg
Stormbreaker mockup at Dubai Air Show 2019
Type Bomb
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In servicethe first half of 2020 (planned) [1]
Used by United States Air Force
United States Navy
Production history
Designer Raytheon
Manufacturer Raytheon
Unit costUS$195,000 [2] (FY 2021)
US$128,771 [3] (FY15)
US$227,146 inc R&D (FY15) [3]
ProducedJanuary 2014–present [4]
No. built17,143 planned [3]
Specifications ( [5] )
Mass204 lb (93 kg)
Length69 in (176 cm)
Diameter6–7 in (15–18 cm)
Warhead105 lb (48 kg) [6]
Operational
range
69 miles (110 km), [7] 45 miles (72 km) against moving targets [8]
Guidance
system
 Millimeter wave Active radar homing / Semi-active laser guidance / Infrared homing (using an uncooled imaging infrared camera) / GPS coupled Inertial guidance / Data-link

The GBU-53/B StormBreaker, previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II, is an American air-launched, precision-guided glide bomb. [9]

Contents

Development was started in 2006 for a 250 pounds (113 kg) class bomb that can identify and strike mobile targets from standoff distances in all weather conditions. It will be integrated on the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 Lightning fighters. [10] Its first flight was announced on May 1, 2009. [11] A contract to start low-rate production LRIP was awarded to Raytheon in June 2015.

A Boeing/Lockheed Martin team attempted to develop it but lost in a U.S. Air Force competition. Boeing won the original competition but the project was on hold for several years due to a corruption scandal involving Darleen Druyun. The competition was reopened in September 2005. [12]

Usage

The bomb can use GPS/INS to guide itself into the general vicinity of a moving target during the initial search phase, with course correction updates provided using a Link 16 over UHF data link. The bomb has three modes of target acquisition: millimeter-wave radar, infrared homing using an uncooled imaging seeker, and semi-active laser homing. The weapon is capable of fusing the information from the sensors to classify the target and can prioritize certain types of targets as desired when used in semi-autonomous mode.

The shaped charge warhead in the bomb has both blast and fragmentation effects, which makes it effective against infantry, armor (including MBTs), unhardened structures and buildings, as well as patrol craft sized boats and other soft targets. The bomb would be the first purpose-built no-drive zone enforcement weapon.

The use of uncooled imaging infrared has been cited as innovative and effective in reducing costs. An important feature of the new weapon is the maximization of the number of the bombs carried by the strike aircraft. A total of 28 GBU-53/B can be carried by the F-15E Strike Eagle utilizing 7 BRU-61/A suspension units, each carrying 4 bombs, and eight bombs along with two AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles in the weapons bay of the F-22 Raptor or the F-35 Lightning II (even the STOVL F-35B). [13] The F-35 will not be able to operate the bomb until the aircraft receives the Block 4 software package in 2022. The SDB II bomb rack originally did not fit inside the smaller F-35B weapons bay. A modification will be provided to coincide with the software package. [14] An F-35 can carry 24 total bombs, eight internally and 16 externally. [15]

Planned deployment

The United States Air Force plans to use the bomb on the F-15E Strike Eagles as a no-drive zone enforcement weapon. The U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines plan to use it on their versions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Delivery for the first batch is planned for late 2014. Government requirements specify a 2016 delivery date.

The Navy plans to first integrate the SDB II onto their F/A-18 Super Hornet jets, then onto the F-35B and C fighters. [16]

History

The original Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) was developed by Boeing and made for non-moving targets. The SDB II is designed to destroy moving targets in dust and bad weather. The Raytheon version was deployed successfully in 26 missions over 21 days. Raytheon was awarded the contract in August, 2010. [17] The North American division of MBDA continues to produce the wings. [18] The Raytheon contract is worth US$450 million. Boeing announced that it would not protest the Raytheon award.

On July 17, 2012 the SDB II successfully engaged and hit a moving target during a flight test at the White Sands Missile Range. The bomb was dropped from an F-15E Strike Eagle, then acquired, tracked, and guided itself onto a moving target using its tri-mode seeker, scoring a direct hit. [19]

In January 2013 four SDB IIs were loaded into the weapons bay of an F-35 Lightning II alongside an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. The successful fit check validated that the SDB II was compatible with the F-35 and gave adequate clearance in sweeps of inboard and outboard bay doors. [20]

Two SDB IIs successfully conducted live fire tests against moving targets, one in September 2014 and the other in February 2015. Successful live fire tests qualified the weapon for the Air Force to make a Milestone C decision, leading to entering low-rate initial production (LRIP). [21]

The SDB II received Milestone C approval in early May 2015, completing a five-year development program and clearing it for production and deployment with the F-15E. A handful of failed test shots prolonged development from four years to five, but per-unit cost was reduced from the goal of $180,000 to $115,000. [16] Raytheon was awarded a $31 million contract on 12 June 2015 for the first LRIP lot of 144 SDB IIs. [22] [23]

Raytheon considered offering the SDB II to the United Kingdom for their Spear Capability 3 requirement to arm the Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon and Royal Navy F-35B. [24] To compete with MBDA's offer of a powered weapon, Raytheon considered a powered SDB II variant. [25] In May 2016, the UK awarded a contract to MBDA to develop the SPEAR 3 missile, confirming it "as the only weapon to meet the UK’s operational requirement" and rejecting the unpowered and shorter-range SDB II. [26]

The Republic of Korea Air Force is considering adopting the SDB II for use on its F-15K aircraft, as the bomb's capability to destroy moving targets more than 60 km away in all kinds of weather is useful to strike North Korean mobile missile launchers. [27] In October 2017, the U.S. approved the sale of 3,900 SDBs to the Royal Australian Air Force for use on their F-35As. [28]

In July 2018, Raytheon announced that the SDB II, recently renamed StormBreaker, had entered operational testing; the weapon had achieved a 90% success rate during developmental testing. [15] [29] [30] The Air Force planned to declare the SDB II operational in September 2019, but a problem with the bomb's backup fin storage clips, other hardware and software issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed its introduction. [31]

See also

Related Research Articles

Lockheed AC-130 Gunship aircraft series by Lockheed

The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily armed, long-endurance, ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport, fixed-wing aircraft. It carries a wide array of ground attack weapons that are integrated with sophisticated sensors, navigation, and fire-control systems. Unlike other modern military fixed-wing aircraft, the AC-130 relies on visual targeting. Because its large profile and low operating altitudes of approximately 7,000 feet make it an easy target, its close air support missions are usually flown at night.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Family of fifth-generation stealth combat aircraft

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. It is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions while also providing electronic warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Lockheed Martin is the prime F-35 contractor, with principal partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems. The aircraft has three main variants: the conventional takeoff and landing F-35A (CTOL), the short take-off and vertical-landing F-35B (STOVL), and the carrier-based F-35C (CV/CATOBAR).

The GBU-10 Paveway II is an American Paveway-series laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 84 general-purpose bomb, but with laser seeker and wings for guidance. Introduced into service c. 1976. Used by USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps, Royal Australian Air Force and various NATO air forces.

GBU-15 Type of Precision guided munition (PGM)

Guided Bomb Unit 15 is an unpowered, glide weapon used to destroy high-value enemy targets. It was designed for use with F-15E Strike Eagle, F-111 'Aardvark' and F-4 Phantom II aircraft. The GBU-15 has long-range maritime anti-ship capability with the B-52 Stratofortress. Rockwell International is the prime contractor for this weapon system.

The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to 15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 pounds (227 kg) to 2,000 pounds (907 kg). The JDAM's guidance system was jointly developed by the United States Air Force and United States Navy, hence the "joint" in JDAM. When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU nomenclature, superseding the Mark 80 or BLU nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.

ASRAAM Type of Short-range air-to-air missile

The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile, also known by its United States identifier AIM-132, is an imaging infrared homing air-to-air missile, produced by MBDA, that is designed to fill the within visual range combat mission. It is currently in service in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), replacing the AIM-9 Sidewinder. ASRAAM is designed to outrange and outrun any other IR missile in service, allowing the pilot to fire and then turn away long before the opposing aircraft can close for a shot. It flies at well over Mach 3 to ranges as great as 50 kilometres (31 mi), considerably over double the range of earlier designs. It retains a 50 g manoeuvrability provided by body lift technology coupled with tail control.

Paveway aerial bomb

Paveway is a series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs).

Storm Shadow Type of Long-range, air-to-surface missile

Storm Shadow is an Anglo-French low-observable air-launched cruise missile, developed since 1994 by Matra and British Aerospace, and now manufactured by MBDA. Storm Shadow is the British name for the weapon; in French service it is called SCALP EG. The missile is based on the earlier MBDA Apache anti-runway missile, and differs in that it carries a warhead rather than submunitions.

McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle American all-weather multirole fighter aircraft

The McDonnell DouglasF-15E Strike Eagle is an American all-weather multirole strike fighter derived from the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle. The F-15E was designed in the 1980s for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic-warfare aircraft. United States Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagles can be generally distinguished from other U.S. Eagle variants by darker aircraft camouflage, conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) mounted along the engine intake ramps and a tandem-seat cockpit.

Brimstone (missile) Type of Air-to-surface missile

Brimstone is an air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA for Britain's Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for "fire-and-forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetric wave (mmW) active radar homing seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets. Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a "spotter" to pick out specific and the highest priority targets, particularly useful to minimise collateral damage when friendly forces or civilians were in the area. The tandem shaped charge warhead is much more effective against modern tanks than older similar weapons such as the AGM-65G Maverick, while the small blast area minimises collateral damage. Three Brimstones are carried on a launcher that occupies a single weapon station, allowing a single aircraft to carry many missiles.

Paveway IV Type of Precision-Guided Munition

Paveway IV is a dual mode GPS/INS and laser-guided bomb manufactured by Raytheon UK. It is the latest iteration of the Paveway series.

Air-to-surface missile missile designed to be launched from aircraft against ground targets

An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common propulsion systems for air-to-surface missiles are rocket motors, usually with shorter range, and slower, longer-range jet engines. Some Soviet-designed air-to-surface missiles are powered by ramjets, giving them both long range and high speed.

Spice (bomb) Type of Guided bomb

The "SPICE" is an Israeli-developed, EO/GPS-guided guidance kit for converting air-droppable unguided bombs into precision guided bombs.

Guided bomb Type of a bomb

A guided bomb is a precision-guided munition designed to achieve a smaller circular error probable (CEP).

The GBU-44/B Viper Strike glide bomb was a GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munition which originally had a combination acoustic and infrared homing seeker. The system was initially intended for use from UAVs, and it was also been integrated with the Lockheed AC-130 gunship, giving that aircraft a precision stand-off capability. The Viper Strike design is now owned by MBDA.

AGM-179 JAGM Type of Air-to-surface missile

The AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) is an American military program to develop an air-to-surface missile to replace the current air-launched BGM-71 TOW, AGM-114 Hellfire, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps plan to buy thousands of JAGMs.

AGM-176 Griffin American lightweight, precision-guided munition

The AGM-176 Griffin is a lightweight, precision-guided munition developed by Raytheon. It can be launched from the ground or air as a rocket-powered missile or dropped from the air as a guided bomb. It carries a relatively small warhead, and was designed to be a precision low-collateral damage weapon for irregular warfare. It has been used in combat by the United States military during the War in Afghanistan.

Precision-guided munition "Smart bombs", used to strike targets precisely

A precision-guided munition is a guided munition intended to precisely hit a specific target, to minimize collateral damage and increase lethality against intended targets. During the First Gulf War guided munitions accounted for only 9% of weapons fired, but accounted for 75% of all successful hits. Despite guided weapons generally being used on more difficult targets, they were still 35 times more likely to destroy their targets per weapon dropped.

GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb Type of Bomb

The GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is a 250 lb (110 kg) precision-guided glide bomb that is intended to provide aircraft with the ability to carry a higher number of more accurate bombs. Most US Air Force aircraft will be able to carry a pack of four SDBs in place of a single 2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb.

SPEAR 3 Type of Air-to-surface missileElectronic warfare systemAnti-ship missile

The Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) Capability 3 is a future British air-to-ground and possibly anti-ship missile.

References

  1. ↑ USAF set to field StormBreaker on F-15E - Jane's 02 February 2020
  2. ↑ https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32277/here-is-what-each-of-the-pentagons-air-launched-missiles-and-bombs-actually-cost . Retrieved 15 Feb 2020.Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 "GAO-15-342SP Defense acquisitions Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs" (PDF). US Government Accountability Office. March 2015. p. 123. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  4. ↑ "GAO-13-294SP Defense acquisitions Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs" (PDF). US Government Accountability Office. March 2013. pp. 101–2. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  5. ↑ .
  6. ↑ Small Diameter Bomb II Completes Live Fire Test Destroying T-72 Tank – Military, 25 February 2015
  7. ↑ http://www.deagel.com/Bombs-and-Guidance-Kits/GBU-53B_a001064002.aspx
  8. ↑ http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/stormbreaker/
  9. ↑ "GBU-53/B StormBreaker".
  10. ↑ "Air Force picks small diameter bomb". United Press International.
  11. ↑ "Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II Completes First Flight". Space war.
  12. ↑ "Raytheon Wins USAs GBU-53 Small Diameter Bomb Competition". Defense Industry Daily.
  13. ↑ "Small Diameter Bomb II – GBU-53/B". Defense Update]. Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  14. ↑ F-35 Will Not Reach Full Close-Air-Support Potential Until 2022 – DoDBuzz.com, 10 March 2015
  15. 1 2 US Fighters May Carry StormBreaker Foul-Weather Bomb by Next Year. Defense Tech. 18 July 2018.
  16. 1 2 Raytheon’s Small Diameter Bomb II approved for production, deployment – Flightglobal.com, 15 May 2015
  17. ↑ "Raytheon wins USA GBU-53/B small diameter bomb competition". Defense Industry Daily.
  18. ↑ "MBDA US Division Corporate". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  19. ↑ Small Diameter Bomb II Successfully Hits Moving Target on the Ground – Deagel.com, July 19, 2012
  20. ↑ Small Diameter Bomb II Fit Check on F-35 Aircraft – Airforce-Technology.com, January 23, 2013[ unreliable source? ]
  21. ↑ SDB II undergoes live fire testing on F-15E – Flightglobal.com, 19 February 2015
  22. ↑ Raytheon Wins Small Contract For Huge Program: SDB II Exports By 2018 – Breakingdefense.com, 19 June 2015
  23. ↑ "Contracts CR-111-15". US Department of Defense. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  24. ↑ Raytheon takes aim at UK Spear deal with SDB II – Flightglobal.com, 23 July 2014
  25. ↑ Raytheon Considers Powered SDB for UK F-35s – Defensenews.com, 15 June 2015
  26. ↑ UK Confirms Development of New Spear Missile for F-35 – Ainonline.com, 19 May 2016
  27. ↑ South Korea plans to buy more Taurus missiles after North Korea's new nuclear test – Airrecognition.com, 4 October 2016
  28. ↑ US approves sale of 3,900 SDB IIs for Australia F-35s - Flightglobal.com, 4 October 2017
  29. ↑ Raytheon awaits F-35 decisions for StormBreaker integration. Flight International. 15 July 2018.
  30. ↑ Raytheon's StormBreaker Bomb Being Integrated into F/A-18. Aviation International News. 17 July 2018.
  31. ↑ Production of one of the F-35′s most anticipated bombs has been on hold for almost a year. Defense News. 13 June 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.