Boeing proved in laboratory tests that the Air Force could load small diameter bombs on its common strategic rotary launcher within the bomb bay of B-52 bombers. Boeing tested the SDBs in a weapons integration laboratory, showing that 32 weapons could be placed in the CSRL in what a company release termed a “fit check.” The tests may help increase the B-52s conventional payload by up to 100 percent, said Scot Oathout, Boeing program director for the B-52. Currently, the bomber’s CSRL only accommodates nuclear weapons and conventional air-launched cruise missiles.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
