Boeing recently delivered the last of 500 Focused Lethality Munitions under its current contract with the Air Force on time and within budget, the company announced Dec. 19. The GBU-39B is a variant of Boeing’s collateral-limiting Small Diameter Bomb that utilizes a carbon fiber, rather than a steel casing, to minimize injury to personnel. “This direct attack FLM team not only delivered to our customer with remarkable efficiency, but also provided an important tool to protect the lives of U.S. and coalition forces around the world,” said company SDB program manager Gary Rodenberg in the release. USAF aircraft have dropped a total of 23 of the 285-pound warheads in combat and have a 100 percent mission success rate, Boeing stated. The folding-fin jam-resistant, GPS guided weapon utilizes the same mounting and interface as SDB, allowing RPAs as well as larger combat aircraft to carry the weapon. (GBU-39B factsheet)
Lockheed Martin projects more than a billion dollars of losses on a classified program, but company officials said April 23 they are confident it will turn profitable by 2028 and become a "franchise" system in the U.S. military.