A GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II scored a direct hit against a moving target for the first time in a test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., announced manufacturer Raytheon on July 19. An F-15E flying from Holloman AFB, N.M., successfully deployed the weapon in the July 17 test, according to the company. The bomb’s tri-mode seeker acquired, tracked, and guided the bomb to the target. The sophisticated seeker allows the bomb to “engage moving targets in bad weather or battlefield obscurants in high threat environments,” explained Harry Schulte, Raytheon’s missile systems vice president. The weapons’ small warhead is extremely useful in “defeating threats, such as swarming boats, mobile air defense systems, or armored targets,” while limiting collateral damage, he added. The weapon, currently under development for the Air Force, is capable of reaching targets from stand-off range.
Air Force Conducts Test Launch of Minuteman III ICBM
May 21, 2025
The Air Force test-launches unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on May. 21. The successful test saw the missile equipped with a single reentry vehicle traveling more than 4,200 miles at over 15,000 mph to strike a designated test site near…