Air Combat Command has declared initial operational capability six months earlier than anticipated for Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb. Gen. Ronald Keys, ACC boss, said the 250-pound autonomous GBU-39B reached IOC on Oct. 2. It has been deployed to Southwest Asia with elements of the 48th Fighter Wing from RAF Lakenheath, England. The SDB gives the Air Force a “very precise coordinate seeking weapon,” carrying minimal explosive material needed to destroy a target, in a small, lightweight package that lets aircraft “service more targets on a single pass,” says Lt. Col. Mark Pierce, with ACC’s advanced weapons requirements branch. ACC plans to integrate the SDB with the F-16, F-22A, F-35, B-1B, B-2, and possibly the B-52.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visited the site of U.S. Space Command’s future home Dec. 12 and endorsed the move to establish the headquarters in Alabama after years of political back and forth.
