Dominique Stump
Raytheon, in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, has started a new round of flight tests on the Small Diameter Bomb II seeker missile, which comes with additional modes for coordinated attack and laser illuminated attack.
The team tested SDB II against fixed and moving targets in a number of tactical scenarios in efforts to update the missile’s normal attack mode, Raytheon said Monday.
The weapon’s coordinated attack mode utilizes an onboard GPS system to attack fixed targets beyond 40 miles in range, while its laser mode eliminates laser-illuminated targets using a semi-active laser.
Jim Sweetman, Raytheon’s SDB II program director, said the test works to support the maturity of the weapon system, which includes a tri-mode seeker designed to eliminate stationary and in-motion targets.
“The program continues to progress toward the next phases of government confidence testing and operational testing,” he added.
Raytheon said tests on the SDB II and its modes will continue through the summer.
