US Fighters May Carry StormBreaker Bomb by Next Year

[F-22Raptor]

FARNBOROUGH, England -- Testing for Raytheon’s Stormbreaker precision-guided bomb, which can go after moving targets in bad weather, is "going so well" it may be fielded earlier than expected, according to company officials.

The U.S. Air Force's System Programs Office "is looking at [the bomb and saying], 'This is going so well' that they're pulling the timeline left because they want to potentially field it early," said Jim Meger of Raytheon's Missile Systems business development. Meger spoke to Military.com Tuesday during an interview at the Farnborough air show here.

"No matter how challenging a scenario we've put into it, the weapon is performing just fantastic," Meger said.

Meger said fielding to some aircraft may take place "right on the edge of 2018, 2019, is kind of where [officials] are looking."

The F-15E Strike Eagle, Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are all expected to carry the bomb. While the legacy fighters may get the StomBreaker earlier, the F-35 is not expected to carry it until roughly 2022, officials said. The Air Force, which classifies the bomb as the GBU-53, is the lead service on the program.

"We're working as hard as we can to pull that [fielding] to the left," Meger said.

Raytheon officials this week announced that StormBreaker has entered operational testing.

"And we've taken eight operational test shots," Meger said, adding the most recent test occurred last week.

Meger said the bomb's success rate was 90 percent during developmental testing.

StormBreaker, a 250-pound-class attack weapon, uses a millimeter wave radar to see through any kind of weather. A fused imaging infrared seeker on the front of the bomb helps to classify targets. While it uses a more common GPS-coordinate target system, the bomb may also carry a laser to more precisely outline a target.

Two antennas on the bomb allow it to connect via the common Link 16 datalink as well as through ultra-high-frequency communications. Meger said the comms equipment allows pilots to send new information to the weapon in flight, which helps with tracking targets in bad weather.

"The beauty of StormBreaker is that it actually seeks out and will find and classify a target for you instead of just hitting a coordinate," said Meger, who was the former 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force vice commander.

The bomb may also be used against moving maritime targets, he said.

An F-35 can carry 24 total StormBreaker bombs, eight internally and 16 externally. The bombs were previously known as small diameter bomb, or SDB, IIs.

"Imagine....they have to defend against swarming boats. You can start sending a whole bunch of the SDB IIs out to go find those boats as you're providing information to them, data linking to them," he said.

The StormBreaker's predecessor, Boeing-made GBU-39 SDB I, uses similar precision-guided technology, but lacks the advanced moving-target seeking equipment. The GBU-39 is used as a low collateral-damage weapon, often in urban environments.

With StormBreaker, "you can tell it, 'I'm looking for a tracked vehicle.' And it will classify the different targets for you ... and goes, 'That's what you're looking for,'' Merger said. "That's a huge quantum capability leap."

https://www.military.com/defensetec...stormbreaker-foul-weather-bomb-next-year.html

 

[Yaseen1]

if in bad weather jetfighters are unable to operate then it is useless

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

if in bad weather jetfighters are unable to operate then it is useless

if you mean fighters..then I'm pretty sure most Western fighters are all-weather.
Bad weather is the best weather if your foes systems don't work properly.

If you mean weapons then yep every weapon should be all-weather since you can't always wait for sunny skies.

 

[gambit]

if in bad weather jetfighters are unable to operate then it is useless

You have the wrong understanding of the phrase 'all-weather'. It does not mean the jet cannot fly in rain or snow.

There is a phrase that is even more important: 'local weather'.

When you are at home, the local weather can be all clear, but when you are over the target area, the local weather can be raining. So the phrase 'local weather' is about where you are at doing whatever it is.

For the army, local weather coverage is about 50 miles in all directions. But for the air force, the target area is usually hundreds of miles away, so local weather intelligence over the target area becomes more important. Low cloud ceiling protects both attackers and defenders. Sensors can be confused by local weather events such as rain or snow or even lightning. So bad weather is not so much a problem for the jet fighter as it is more a problem for weapons delivery.

 

[Yaseen1]

can u.s fighter jets and missiles work in hurricane?

 

[gambit]

can u.s fighter jets and missiles work in hurricane?

A hurricane contains the energy of nuclear bombs...So...No...

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

A hurricane contains the energy of nuclear bombs...So...No...

We have other planes for that.

 

[GHALIB]

how very nice

 

[Ultima Thule]

We have planes for that.

No he is talking about fighter jet and missiles not NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft @Hamartia Antidote

 

[LeGenD]

can u.s fighter jets and missiles work in hurricane?

Some weapons are affected and some not. For example, tomahawk cruise missile is all-weather capable, and it can be launched in stormy conditions.

This is very interesting: