Test personnel at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif., conducted the first drop of the Small Diameter Bomb from the internal weapons bay of an F-22A earlier this month, according to a Sept. 26 release. Maj. Jack Fischer, a test pilot with the 411th Flight Test Squadron, said the test “proved our predictions were modeled properly; the bomb came out exactly as it should have for the first test, so we’re right on track.” The Raptor will be able to carry eight SDBs, two advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, and two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. Fischer noted also that no other aircraft “can release a supersonic weapon out of an internal weapons bay,” but the “flow field and shock wave interactions present a very complex challenge.”
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.