F-35B dropped eight precision-guided bombs in sequence for the first time
The US Marine Corps conducted a test dropping eight Small Diameter Bomb II - SDB II guided aerial bombs at once from an F-35B fighter jet. This is seen as a preliminary step toward confirming the application of this capability across all F-35 modifications in the future.
F-35B drops eight precision-guided bombs sequentially for the first time
The test was conducted at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Pilots from the Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 participated in it.
This refers to dropping eight bombs sequentially during a single pass at the target, rather than simultaneously. As a result, the aircraft does not have to make repeated passes over the target for each bomb.
The SDB II, also known as StormBreaker, is a small-sized, high-precision guided air bomb weighing approximately 113 kilograms. According to the article, it is designed to strike moving targets at a distance of at least 70 kilometers in various weather conditions.
Integrating StormBreaker into the F-35's armament was delayed due to software issues and other difficulties. Nevertheless, the ability to use multiple bombs at once could change the way the aircraft performs combat missions.
Retired U.S. Air Force Major General John Norman, in a comment to Air & Space Forces Magazine, said this method reduces the need for a pilot to make repeated passes over the target. In his view, this reduces the risks associated with extra passes and lightens the burden of manually calculating employment parameters for each munition.
StormBreaker's network data-sharing capabilities also allow target strike zones to be restricted to a predetermined area. The article notes this feature as one of the bomb's advantages over previous-generation cluster munitions.
The current test was conducted on the F-35B variant. Its results do not mean that this capability has already been implemented across all F-35 aircraft.