SDB targets operational testing

In less than four years, Boeing's Small Diameter Bomb has finished development testing and is now set for operational testing. A pace like that, said Boeing SDB Program Manager Dan Jaspering, is "unheard of."

The development test program included 37 test flights that put the SDB through numerous scenarios against various targets, including tanks, rocket launchers and an aircraft hidden in a reinforced bunker. The last test was a four-bomb drop Aug. 25. Through it all, the SDB missed its target aim point by a miniscule average of about 4 feet. "We're very proud of that," Jaspering said. "In a wartime situation, that's putting it in the right room, not just hitting a building."

The SDB system is a low-cost, precision-strike weapon system that can be mounted with internal or external carriages on fighters, bombers and unmanned combat air vehicles. The multipurpose weapon combines an inertial navigation system with the Global Positioning System for near-precision guidance. It has deployable wings for extended gliding, or standoff, range.

In April, SDB entered low-rate initial production with an order from the U.S. Air Force for 201 weapons and 35 carriages used to mount the weapons. Operational testing is scheduled to begin this fall.

—Chris Haddox