| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Tech |
| $18.5M for Initial Production of Small Diameter Bomb System |
| 2005-04-25 |
| EFL: Boeing Co. subsidiary McDonnell Douglas Corp. received an $18.5 million contract modification to exercise Lot 1 Option for Small Diameter Bomb Increment I (Fixed/Stationary Target) Low Rate initial Production for munitions, carriage, and associated trainers and technical support. The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is considered one of the most significant programs on the books because it will dramatically increase the strike capability of every combat aircraft in the U.S. inventory. This 250 pound guided weapon has the same penetration capabilities as a 2000lb BLU-109 thanks to its length to diameter ratio, smart fuse and nose shape, demonstrating penetration of more than 6 feet of reinforced concrete with only 50 pounds of explosive. The fixed/stationary target versions is INS/GPS guided like the JDAM, giving the winged bombs a range of up to 60 km and an accuracy rating of just 5-8m CEP. The size and accuracy of SDBs allows aircraft to carry more munitions to more targets and strike them more effectively with less collateral damage. Because of its capabilities, the system is an important element of the U.S. Air Force's Global Strike Task Force. Follow-on SDB integration may occur with the F-16 (Block 30/40/50), F-117, A-10, B-52, B-1, and B-2, as well as the forthcoming F/A-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The B-2 is set to carry between 64 and 216 SDBs on one mission. In the case of the F-22, it will permit the destruction of up to eight targets on a single mission. The SDB is also a potential weapons load for the MQ-9 Predator B and X-45 UCAV drones, as well as standoff carrier vehicles such as Tomahawk cruise missiles, JSOW and JASSM missiles, and even Conventional ICBMs. For this LRIP contract, Boeing said it would produce 201 SDBs and 35 weapons carriages, which will be mounted on Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles in 2006. This work will be complete September 2006. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #10 TW: Only if you want just a couple, and are willing to not have the production start. Going into LRIP is the hardest and most time-consuming part of developing a new weapon, at least for RMS. I don't imagine M-D or Boeing to be any different. All these neat tweaks that you can do with prototypes or Engineering Development Models, aren't allowed when you are doing Production Transition Units and getting ready to crank them out like sausages. For the last product I worked on (can't say what it was), the initial trip through the factory took weeks, with the final step taking 10 days. With the multiple sets we had, that gave us an effective rate of 2/week. It took us two years to get that to a reasonable rate of 3/day. So, yes, we could build a few of them under transition conditions (PTEs -- at a cost of $70/hr -- actually doing assembly and check-out/calibration) if we had some immediate need |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-04-25 10:11:56 PM |
| #9 Because he thinks you can never have too much collateral damage. Sometimes an oppoenent in war needs to be made to feel beaten and humiliated, and that means an extra helping of bomb damage, to the target AND nearby structures. It all depends on the situation. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-25 9:00:04 PM |
| #8 Would it be possible to speed up production against the response called for that proposed Iranian nuclear EMP attack? Also, I can't decode the jargon, but can it be used by Navy ships, too? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-04-25 7:03:05 PM |
| #7 Lol Steve. Exactal |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-04-25 6:28:04 PM |
| #6 Why would it be a double-edged sword? Because he thinks you can never have too much collateral damage. Don't worry, Bomb-a-rama, as Al Capone would say, "Somedays youse needs a icepick, and somedays youse need to go upside their head with a baseball bat." |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-04-25 4:01:39 PM |
| #5 Bomb-a-rama, that strikes me as a win-win. Why would it be a double-edged sword? |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2005-04-25 3:18:34 PM |
| #4 The size and accuracy of SDBs allows aircraft to carry more munitions to more targets and strike them more effectively with less collateral damage. Possibly a double-edged sword. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2005-04-25 10:32:09 AM |
| #3 The smart spears are here. |
| Posted by: john 2005-04-25 9:43:05 AM |
| #2 This might prove useful in Iran ya think? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2005-04-25 9:02:00 AM |
| #1 I guess I should be disappointed that Boeing got it, rather than we. OTOP, it's more important that we have the ability to reach out and touch someone than I get a bigger bonus. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-04-25 8:50:41 AM |