SDB Goes Operational: 
Munitions maintenance airmen of the 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, England, have been getting schooled on the Air Force’s newest munition—the Small Diameter Bomb, or GBU-39. The wing will be deploying F-15E fighters equipped with the SDB for the munition’s first operational debut—in Southwest Asia—this fall. TSgt. Corey Hammond, production supervisor for the 48th Munitions Squadron, says the SDB is “a great weapon” for ground crew, noting that they like “the ease of it.” He explained, “It requires less manpower. It requires less maintenance. When you are on the fighting front that’s important.”
Multiple B-21s are undergoing ground tests and being prepared to join the two aircraft now in test flight, and the Northrop Grumman is negotiating with the Air Force about how expanded production for the bomber could be accomplished, president and CEO Kathy Warden said Oct. 21. She also suggested a…
