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Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) / Small Smart Bomb

SDB System Characteristics:

System Weight: 1460 lb 664 kg (carriage & 4 GBU-39/B)
System size Length 143 in, Width 16 in, Height 16 in.
Carriage Weight: 320 lb 145 kg
Weapon Weight 285 lb 130 kg
Guidance:
– Precision augmented INS/GPS navigation
– Anti-Jam GPS with SAASM
Standoff: > 60 nm
Warhead Multipurpose; penetrates > 5 ft steel reinforced concrete;
Insensitive Munition
Fuze Electronic Safe and Fire (ESAF), Cockpit selectable functions

The new bomb, which is half the size of the smallest bomb the Air Force uses today, can penetrate six feet of reinforced concrete like a much bigger 2,000-pound BLU-109, according to GlobalSecurity.org, a Virginia-based defense think tank.

The Air Force currently plans to build 24,000 or more SDBs, including 12,000 fixed-target versions and 12,000 moving-target versions.

GlobalSecurity said the size and accuracy of small diameter bombs allows aircraft to carry more munitions to more targets and strike them more effectively with less collateral damage.

The group said the Air Force hopes to deploy the SDB by 2006 on the F-15E, followed by deployment on the F-22, F-35 or Joint Strike Fighter, the F-16, B-2 and a planned unmanned combat air vehicle.

"The small diameter bomb is considered one of the most significant programs on the books because it will dramatically increase the strike capability of every combat aircraft in the inventor," the group said in a report on the weapon.

The Small Smart Bomb is a 250 pound weapon that has the same penetration capabilities as a 2000lb BLU-109, but with only 50 pounds of explosive. The 250 pound-class warhead that has demonstrated penetration of more than 6 feet of reinforced concrete. With the INS/GPS guidance in conjunction with differential GPS (using all 12 channel receivers, instead of only 5) corrections provided by GPS SPO Accuracy Improvement Initiative (AII) and improved Target Location Error (TLE), it can achieve a 5-8m CEP. The submunition, with a smart fuze, has been extensively tested against multi-layered targets by Wright Laboratory under the Hard Target Ordnance Program and Miniature Munitions Technology Program. The length to diameter ratio and nose shape are designed to optimize penetration for a 50lb charge. This weapon is also a potential payload for standoff carrier vehicles such as Tomahawk, JSOW, JASSM, Conventional ICBM, etc.

The size and accuracy of small diameter bombs allows aircraft to carry more munitions to more targets and strike them more effectively with less collateral damage. Because of its capabilities, the Small Diameter Bomb system is an important element of the Air Force's Global Strike Task Force. Under the official title of "Component Advanced Development for the Small Diameter Bomb," the program is being conducted by the Air Armament Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory Flight Vehicles Integration Branch located at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

The Air Force hopes to deploy the Small Diameter Bomb System by 2006 on the F-15E, followed by deployment on several other aircraft, including the F-22, JSF, F-16, B-2 and the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle.

The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) is half the weight of the smallest bomb the Air Force uses today, the 500-pound Mark 82. It uses a 250 pound-class warhead that has demonstrated penetration of more than 6 feet of reinforced concrete. Utilizing a smaller weapon improves aircraft load-out and mission effectiveness. The size and accuracy of small diameter bombs allows aircraft to carry more munitions to more targets and strike them more effectively with less collateral damage. Because of its capabilities, the Small Diameter Bomb system is an important element of the Air Force's Global Strike Task Force.

Specifications:

Diameter	Six inches
Length	Six feet
Weight	250-lb
Warhead	steel case for penetration 50 lbs of high explosive
Guidance	Differential GPS/INS , Autonomous, all weather
Accuracy	three meters circular error probable (CEP) for surveyed target
Penetration	six feet of reinforced concrete

The US Air Force is now developing a lightweight penetrating GPS-guided bomb, known as the "Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)", initially known as the "Small Bomb System (SBS)", which in turn was a follow-on to a proof-of-concept effort, the "Miniaturized Munitions Technology Demonstration (MMTD)" program.

The SDB is a penetrating bomb with a weight in the 90 to 112 kilogram (200 to 250 pound) range, and with a length of about two meters (6 feet 6 inches). It is intended to have the same penetrating capability as a 900 kilogram (2,000 pound) weapon, but will only carry 22 kilograms (50 pounds) of explosive.

The SDB is intended for carriage on new stealthy manned and unmanned strike aircraft to allow them to carry weapons internally, while still giving them enough firepower to destroy a number of separate targets in a single sortie. The small size is also intended to limit "colateral damage" to nearby civilian structures.

The SDB incorporates a "differential" GPS guidance system to provide a smaller CEP, and an improved penetrating structure to allow the weapon to pierce up to almost two meters of concrete. Lattice fins are now being considered to reduce size and improve performance.

A "Swing Wing Adapter Kit (SWAK)" is being built for the SDB to allow an aircraft to drop the weapon from standoff ranges of up to 45 kilometers (28 miles) at altitude. If the SDB is being launched at a hard target, the wing will be discarded in midcourse to allow the bomb to build up velocity before striking the target. For soft targets, the wing will be retained until the bomb is in range of small arms fire.

* The Air Force is very enthusiastic about the SDB. A contractor will be selected in 2003, and operational introduction is scheduled to begin in 2006.

The SDB will be fitted with the new "Hard Target Smart Fuze (HTSF)". The HTSF is a tail-mounted fuze that incorporates accelerometers and a processor chip. The HSTF can determine if the bomb has struck earth, concrete, rock, or empty space; can count the number of layers it has penetrated; and can compute distance or time to determine the appropriate detonation time for a specific target.

US weapons designers are also now working on a "Multiple Event Fuze" that could trigger multiple munitions functions, such as igniting a blast-fragmentation warhead to tear open an installation, followed by a fuel-air charge to incinerate it. This implies the use of large combined-effects munitions, but if anyone's working on such weapons, little information has been released on them.

The Air Force has considered as a follow-on an advanced seeker to provide the an SDB with a "wide area search / seek and destroy" capability, and a rocket booster to increase standoff distance and penetrating power.