USAF invests heavily in SBD I
Boeing has been awarded a $2.2 billion contract for the GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb Increment I (SDB I) weapon programme, the Department of Defense has announced.
A 24 September DoD statement said the new contract provides for a guaranteed minimum Lot 15 award and a five-year ordering period for SDB I, focused lethality munition, containers and carriages for the DoD and Foreign Military Sales partner nations.
The Pentagon named Australia, Belgium, Israel, Japan, Korea, Netherlands and Norway as potential FMS customers.
The work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be complete by September 2027. US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, was the contracting activity.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Land Warfare
-
![US Army seeks industry support to prepare acquisitions of Group 4+ UAVs]()
US Army seeks industry support to prepare acquisitions of Group 4+ UAVs
The US Army is keen to hear about vendor designs, strategies and potential hardware and software solutions to inform requirements for procurement efforts.
-
![Dedicated drone munitions could unlock modular mission potential]()
Dedicated drone munitions could unlock modular mission potential
Top attacks have proven effective against heavily armoured vehicles in Ukraine. A new family of uncrewed aerial system-delivered munitions is looking to press that advantage further.
-
![Companies look to tank-launched guided projectiles for non-line-of-sight effects]()
Companies look to tank-launched guided projectiles for non-line-of-sight effects
While integration of guided weapons on modern armoured vehicles usually takes the form of a podded launcher on the turret exterior, recent developments suggest the concept of firing missiles from a tank’s main gun could be seeing a revival.
-
![Germany signs multi-billion-dollar deals for 6x6 CAVS and GDELS Eagle vehicles]()
Germany signs multi-billion-dollar deals for 6x6 CAVS and GDELS Eagle vehicles
The order is a further boost for the Common Armoured Vehicles System programme which has notched notable successes in the past 12 months. The first vehicle, made in Finland, will be delivered next year with local production expected to ramp up in 2027.
