Raytheon [RTN] said yesterday that the warhead for its Small Diameter Bomb II under development for the Air Force exceeded expectations in a recent test.
The test was the first demonstration of the SBD II warhead on a fully automated production line, the company said. The warhead turned out to be twice as powerful than was required, a company spokesman said.
SDB II is designed to be capable of hitting fixed or moving targets around-the-clock in adverse weather conditions from a range of greater than 46 miles.
After production, the warheads were put through an accelerated conditioning regime equivalent to 500 flight hours and 20 years of aging in a bunker, followed by live detonation testing.
“Using production-ready processes, the SDB II warhead is meeting or exceeding all requirements barely a year after contract award,” Tom White, Raytheon’s SDB II program director, said.