In an urgent bid to avoid unintended casualties in attacks on terrorist targets in urban areas, the US Air Force plans to develop a “focused-lethality munition” based on Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), a 115kg (250lb) precision-guided weapon now entering production.
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| USAF Strike Eagle will be less likely to cause collateral damage in Iraq |
Although funding has yet to be approved, the USAF has signalled its intent to award Boeing a contract to develop a version of its SDB Increment 1 weapon with a composite-cased warhead. The case will break into fibres rather than heavier metal fragments when the bomb explodes, limiting its lethal range, while it will also release a dense metal powder that will lose energy quickly, reducing the blast radius.
The USAF is seeking $40 million to launch an urgent effort to develop the focused-lethality munition and integrate the weapon with its Boeing F-15E Strike Eagles for operational use in Afghanistan and Iraq. The contract will cover an initial 50 weapons for test and operational use in 2006-8, with these to be followed by the production of up to 450 more between 2009 and 2012. The basic SDB will enter service on the F-15E this year.
GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International