Under a $400 million contract awarded this week, the defense contractor Raytheon will build and supply more than 1,500 StormBreaker air-to-surface, network enabled smart weapons for the United States Air Force.
Launched by air, the StormBreaker weapons can be mounted on the F-15E Strike Eagle and F/A-18E/F SuperHornet for certain, although testing is also underway for all variants of the F-35. It’s meant to be a precision-strike weapon for moving and fixed targets, in all weather conditions, with the ability to autonomously detect and classify targets.
The weapon includes three modes: millimeter wave radar detection for tracking targets, infrared imaging for target discrimination and semi-active lasers to allow tracking of an airborne or ground-based laser designator.
“Fielded on two platforms with testing underway for others, StormBreaker has solidified its place as the leading network enabled weapon across the Department of Defense,” Paul Ferraro, president of Air Power at Raytheon, said. “With this contract, we’ll continue to evolve StormBreaker’s production to meet the needs of servicemembers for years to come.”
Last year, the weapon successfully completed 28 test drops.