USAF forces at RAF Lakenheath in Britain will be one of the first bases to receive USAF’s newest and smallest precision guided weapon, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb. Officials expect to deploy it on the 48th Fighter Wing’s F-15Es beginning in October 2006. The bomb is also slated for use on the F/A-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Facing competition from fast-growing startups, Lockheed Martin is speeding up production of an “affordable, scalable” hypersonic glide body, dubbed the Next Generation Glide Body, the firm said in a June 24 release.