New American bombs will also destroy moving targets.

New American bombs will also destroy moving targets.

According to the bimonthly website of National Interest, the US Air Force completed a series of rigorous high-speed wind tunnel tests on the second generation small-diameter bomb (SDB-II), which enabled this weapon to be deployed to the F- 15 fighter in 20 18. Raytheon said that SDB-II bombs can destroy moving targets 40 miles away in any weather conditions.

The SDB-II bomb will be used to destroy moving targets in various weather conditions, such as a small group of "Islamic State" members or terrorist fighters moving in pickup trucks. This kind of weapon is extremely important for the fighters of the Islamic State organization, because these people have been deliberately mixing with civilians and going out in rainy days or bad weather to avoid being detected by reconnaissance equipment overhead.

Although the GBU-54 laser-guided bomb currently used by the US Air Force can destroy moving targets, the new SDB-II bomb can do this at a longer distance and in various weather conditions. In addition, SDB-II bomb is equipped with two-way dual-frequency data link, which can change the target or correct the target position in flight.

SDBII can strike targets from 40 nautical miles (74 kilometers) away, and powerful warheads can destroy armored targets, but by reducing the explosion coverage, the collateral damage will be minimized. High-precision SDBII provides fighters with the flexibility to change their attack targets, which is achieved by providing data updates to weapons in flight through data links.

The SDB-II bomb weighs only 208 pounds, which is lighter than most other airborne bombs, and its bomb load will be greatly increased. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can be equipped with eight SDB-II bombs. If the weapon is installed in the internal weapon cabin instead of the external weapon pod, the aircraft can successfully maintain stealth characteristics because the shape or outline of the weapon will not be detected by the enemy radar.

In addition, SDB-II bomb can also classify targets, and it can be programmed to only attack the tanks in the convoy without harming other moving vehicles. Raytheon officials said that this weapon can classify tanks, ships and wheeled targets.

According to the report, it is estimated that the potential cost of the whole production process of the SDB-II bombing case is 2.792 billion US dollars, and it is estimated that 1.7 million SDB-II bombs will be produced, of which 1.2 million will be supplied to the air force and 5,000 to the navy.