The Air Force on Friday exercised a $62.5 million contract option with Raytheon for 312 Small Diameter Bomb IIs. The announcement comes at a time when service officials have repeatedly said weapons stocks are low. The contract includes low-rate initial production for 312 Small Diameter Bomb II Lot 3 munitions, 413 Small Diameter Bomb Lot 3 single weapon containers, 20 weapon conversions for guided test vehicles, 20 production reliability incentive demonstration effort captive vehicles, 24 trainers, and data. The contract lasts through June 2019, according to the contract announcement. Service officials have said USAF is running low on bombs as a result of the high operations tempo in the Middle East, and the Air Force has had to move weapons from one area of operations to another to keep up. (See also: Empty Racks from the December 2016 issue of Air Force Magazine.)
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.