The U.S. Navy announced it had approved Raytheon’s StormBreaker smart weapon for use on its F/A-18-E/F Super Hornet strike fighter fleet.
Officials said the StormBreaker is the only operational smart weapon that can engage both moving and stationary targets in fair and adverse weather conditions, on land and at sea. The weapon’s compact size allows a single aircraft to engage more surface targets, and the weapon can fly to strike mobile targets, reducing the time aircrews spend in harm’s way. Additionally, the weapon’s precision strike capability will increase fleet lethality and survivability, officials with Raytheon said.
“The Super Hornet plays a critical role in the Navy’s air combat strategy and equipping it with StormBreaker increases the aircraft’s lethality by enabling precision strike in all weather conditions,” Sam Deneke, president of Air & Space Defense Systems at Raytheon said. “StormBreaker’s accuracy and versatility gives operators the upper hand in the most degraded environments, ensuring they can complete the mission and return home safely.”
The Super Hornet became the first U.S. Navy aircraft to carry the StormBreaker in 2023. Since then, the smart weapon has had exceptional performance in combat. The weapon is approved for use on the F-15E and the Super Hornet, and is currently being integrated on the F-35A/B/C, officials said.
Raytheon, an RTX business, is a leading provider of defense solutions that help the U.S. government and its allies. For more than a century, the company has developed new technologies and enhanced existing capabilities in integrated air and missile defense, smart weapons, missiles, advanced sensors and radars, interceptors, space-based systems, hypersonics and missile defense.