The US Air Force has awarded Boeing a contract to produce Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) with a maximum value of $6.9 billion.
This indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract provides for the production and delivery of SDBs from Lots 20 to 29, with a guaranteed minimum award for Lot 20.
To help cover the costs, specific funds have been allocated: $147,207 from Fiscal Year 2022, $2.4 million from Fiscal Year 2023, and $34.3 million from Fiscal Year 2024.
Moreover, an additional $396.4 million from foreign military sales has been earmarked for the contract.
Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by the end of December 2035.
Alongside the US Air Force, allies Japan, Bulgaria, and Ukraine are set to receive these SDBs.
Low-Cost, Precision Strike Munition
Also known as GBU-39/B, the SDB is a precision-guided bomb that uses an inertial navigation system, a global positioning system, and a penetrating and blast-fragmentation warhead for high accuracy and reduced collateral damage.
It has been in combat use on the F-15E since 2006.
Each SDB measures 70.8 inches (180 centimeters) long and 7.5 inches (19 centimeters) wide.
A carriage holding four SDBs can replace one 1,000- or 2,000-pound (453- or 907-kilogram) weapon, allowing an aircraft to engage four times as many targets in a single sortie.
Each bomb weighs around 250 pounds (113 kilograms) and can penetrate over three feet of steel-reinforced concrete.
Once air-dropped, the GBU-39/B has extendable deployable wings that enable it to glide over distances beyond 60 nautical miles (69 miles/111 kilometers).
It also has variants: the Focused Lethality Munition (GBU-39A/B) is used to minimize collateral damage outside the blast zone, while the Laser SDB (GBU-39B/B) features a semi-active laser guidance for targeting moving objects.
