Large Order for Small Bombs

Boeing will supply the Air Force with nearly 2,700 additional Small Diameter Bombs and approximately 380 BRU-61 bomb carriages under a $106 million contract award for Lot 7 production announced Tuesday. The company says it will start delivering this equipment in January 2012. With this award, the Air Force has now ordered a total of 12,379 SDB Increment I munitions and 2,059 carriages from Boeing since 2003. So far, the company says it has delivered approximately 7,000 of these 250-pound-class bombs and 1,200 carriages. The Air Force has employed the SDB I in combat. Debbie Rub, vice president of Boeing’s Missiles and Unmanned Airborne Systems, noted in the company’s release how the SDB I has evolved “from a long-range standoff weapon into a weapon that also minimizes flight time to target—a capability that is ideal for close air support in today’s ever-changing battlefield.”