The all-weather precision guided bomb could enter service next year.
The U.S. military’s new “Stormbreaker” guided bomb has entered operational testing and could be ready for service as early as next year. The new bomb will allow combat jets to strike moving targets on the ground using sensors capable of seeing through bad weather.
In 2005 a new bomb entered U.S. military service: the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The SDB weighs 285 pounds and is just 5.9 feet long and is equipped with glide fins and a GPS guidance system, giving it the ability to glide up to 46 miles to target and strike within 5-10 yards of the aiming point.
The relatively small size allows the F-15E Strike Eagle, for example, to carry twelve of the bombs at once. Once an aircrew assigns GPS targeting coordinates to the individual bombs they can release all twelve bombs simultaneously in one mass drop. The mass drop, coupled with the glide delivery system allows bombers to minimize their exposure to enemy air defense fire.