An RTX executive suggests the deployment of the Stormbreaker precision-guided bomb is going well, and outlines how industry must react to rapidly evolving adversary capabilities.
Jon Norman, vice-president of requirements & capabilities at RTX unit Raytheon, says that the Stormbreaker precision-guided bomb has performed well in operational tests and initial operational fielding with the US Air Force’s Boeing F-15E fleet.
He adds that work continues on initial operational capability for the weapon on the US Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
Norman, a former pilot of the Lockheed Martin F-16 in the USAF, says that four F-15Es equipped with Stormbreakers - which can operate in all weather conditions - would be able to take out an entire column of tanks.
“When on active duty I did operational tests, and I’ve never seen any of the weapons that I tested go through that evaluation, from both developmental tests and operational tests, into an operationally deployed effector as well as Stormbreaker has.”
Norman made the remarks speaking on a panel of colleagues convened to discuss RTX’s extensive involvement in two iconic American fighters, the F-15 and F-16.
Norman was also asked about learnings from the war in Ukraine, where Russia has proven adept at developing countermeasures against precision weapons from the West.
“We’re very adept at developing tactics and finding new and inventive ways of employing both the platform and the weapons so that we have an advantage,” says Norman.
“The threats are paying attention to us and they evolve. It’s not a static problem, it’s a very dynamic environment…we are constantly assessing threats worldwide.”
A change in tactics is sometimes sufficient to deal with adversary improvements, or it could involve a software upgrade. A major leap in adversary capability requires a hardware change.
As an example of this, he gives the upgrade of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-To-Air Missile from the C-8 to D-3 version.
“We completely changed the whole front end of that missile because as we watched the threats evolve over time, they improved to the point that we did everything we could with software, and we needed a capability upgrade,” says Norman.
The D-3 features a “significant improvement” in processing power over its predecessor.
“We take those operational assessments of all the threats, we take user input from all of our users, and we work very closely with our engineers describing what that capability gaps is, what we’re seeing that the threats are capable of, and help translate that into requirements.”
