Raytheon’s Small-Diameter Bomb II Completes Flight Testing

Raytheon has completed captive carry flight tests of its proposed solution for the US Air Force's GBU-53/B small-diameter bomb II competition. The tests demonstrated that the weapon's form-factored tri-mode seeker and guidance receiver navigator are ready to enter the engineering and ma

Raytheon has completed captive carry flight tests of its proposed solution for the US Air Force’s GBU-53/B small-diameter bomb II competition.

The tests demonstrated that the weapon’s form-factored tri-mode seeker and guidance receiver navigator are ready to enter the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

Engineers tested the weapon’s integration and guidance receiver navigator on a US Air Force F-15E as well as on a US Army UH-1 helicopter, which enabled the team to conduct more seeker data passes at a much lower cost on all required targets than would have been possible with a fast-moving jet aircraft.

Helicopter testing also allowed engineers to evaluate the GBU-53/B’s terminal approach to targets, a task not practical on fighter aircraft test platforms.