The Rapid Acquisition Cell at Eglin AFB, Fla., recently awarded Dynetics an $11.65 million contract to continue work on a small glide bomb for US Special Operations Command, according to the company. The work will involve flight testing, quality testing, and support integration activities, a program manager said during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. The stand-off precision-guided munition is designed to increase the lethality of weapons delivered using the common launch tube—mounted on the AC-130 gunship, remotely piloted aircraft, and other platforms. The baseline configuration carries a 36-pound blast-fragmentation warhead, according to a Dynetics release. SOCOM has successfully tested the laser-guided model against fixed and moving targets. The modular design allows for different seekers, warheads, and other subsystems to be incorporated into the bomb. SOCOM intends to field the weapon in 2017, the program manager said.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.