The partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin will have to fend off several other major defense companies for the contract to build the next crop of Small Diameter Bombs. According to Dow Jones newswire, Raytheon and, perhaps, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman are keen to enter the nearly $2 billion competition. A Raytheon official said that the addition of a moving target requirement, with its new suite of antennas and communications equipment, and the removal of the need for the SDB to pierce a building makes the phase II version “a potentially completely different weapons system.” The changes make it much more appealing to a wider variety of contractors.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
