Northrop Grumman officials say the company has completed its upgrade of the B-2’s weapons capability—allowing the stealth bomber to deliver five times its previous load of GPS-guided weapons. The company delivered the 54th “smart” bomb rack assembly earlier this month to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo. A smart rack-equipped B-2 can deliver 80 500-pound guided bombs.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.