Raytheon [RTN] and the Air Force completed three successful Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) program reviews leading up to a mid-May Milestone C decision, according to a company statement.
During March and April, the SDB II team successfully completed a functional configuration audit (FCA), a production readiness review (PRR) and a system verification review (SVR). The functional configuration audit assessed SDB II’s functionality and verified through rigorous testing and documentation that the weapon is in compliance with the approved design.
Raytheon SDB II Program Director Jim Sweetman said Thursday via a spokeswoman the company approaches the FCA in an incremental fashion by providing verification information sheets as events, such as qualification, are completed. Sweetman said the FCA event is a roll up of all the verification information sheets to demonstrate the company’s design meets the requirements.
The production readiness review successfully proved the current design of SDB II is ready for production, according to Raytheon. Sweetman said the PRR assessed the ability of both Raytheon Missile Systems and its supply base to produce weapons in a production contract. The PRR, he said, is a review of what has been built during the development contract and how it will be built during production. Sweetman said the review also covers the production facilities, equipment, processes and personnel.
Sweetman said the system verification review builds upon the two previous reviews to look at the entire weapon system, including aircraft, command and control (C2) elements and logistics for fielding. Raytheon said the review was a product and process assessment to determine that SDB II is ready for LRIP. A successful Milestone C brief and decision would clear the way for low-rate initial production (LRIP) in 2015.
Raytheon said the SDB II program will enter production after a successful Milestone C decision and, in the coming months, will enter a focused government confidence testing (GCT) period, followed by operational testing in 2016. Sweetman said the GCT period will start in the fourth quarter of 2015 and last approximately nine months. GCT, he said, is a U.S. government-led development test series to ready the weapon system for operational test. Sweetman said it will exercise the full weapon cycle of logistics, mission planning and flight operations.
SDB II will be launched from a F-15E aircraft during the GCT period, Sweetman said. SDB II employes a tri-mode seeker of millimeter wave radar, uncooled imaging infrared and semi-active laser to seek and destroy targets, both moving and stationary, in adverse weather and from standoff ranges, according to Raytheon. SDB II can strike targets from a range of more than 40 nautical miles.