Network-enabled weapon garners Raytheon $345 million USAF contract
NewsJanuary 03, 2024
TUCSON, Ariz. Raytheon (an RTX business) won a $345 million contract with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) to produce and deliver more than 1,500 StormBreaker smart weapons, which are air-to-surface, network-enabled weapons that can engage moving targets in all weather conditions using a multi-effects warhead and tri-mode seeker.
The company describes StormBreaker as a weapon that is equipped with a multimode seeker intended to guide the weapon by imaging infrared, millimeter wave radar, and semi-active laser that can be used with GPS and inertial navigation system guidance.
According to Raytheon information, StormBreaker is designed to be small -- thereby enabling fewer aircraft to handle the same number of targets compared to larger weapons that may require multiple jets -- and is designed to fly more than 40 miles to strike mobile targets, aiming to reduce the amount of time that aircrews spend in combat.
StormBreaker is fielded on the F-15E Strike Eagle and F/A-18E/F SuperHornet air platforms and is undergoing testing on all variants of the F-35 combat aircraft; across the platforms, Raytheon reports completing 28 StormBreaker test drops in 2023.
Raytheon sources state that this contract is slightly different than the usual because it adds several FMS [foreign military sale] customers -- namely, Norway, Germany, Finland, and Italy.
