The US Navy recently wrapped up its StormBreaker smart weapon drop test series from an F-35B fighter.
The final of the seven-test series saw the F-35 naval version test drop two StormBreaker munitions within 35 minutes of each other at .9 Mach, the fastest release to date.
Raytheon revealed that the weapon will now enter the capability testing phase.
The tests are part of the weapon’s integration process with the fifth-generation aircraft.
The 200-pound (91 kilograms) air-to-ground munition achieved initial operating capability on the F-15E Strike Eagle this year, with plans of integration with additional manned and unmanned platforms, including the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
‘Smart’ Munition
The munition’s multimode seeker allows it “to see through fog, smoke and rain to glide over 45 miles (72 kilometers) and strike at a fixed or moving target on land or at sea,” Raytheon claims.
The company added that the weapon, packed with “shape charge jets, fragmentation, and blast charge effects,” can destroy a tank.
Raytheon also claims that more StormBreakers can be carried in one sortie compared to legacy munitions, “creating opportunities to address more targets per sortie.”
“No other fielded air-to-surface weapon can accomplish what StormBreaker can against complex targets in contested environments,” president of Air Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense Paul Ferraro said.
“Tests like these continue the progress on integrating StormBreaker into fifth generation platforms in an effort to get this much-needed capability to US and allied warfighters as soon as possible.”
