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Air Force awards more than $10.5M for laser-guided bombs

By James LaPorta
Ammo Airmen from the 35th Maintenance Squadron at Misawa Air Base, Japan, test a small diameter bomb. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley/U.S. Air Force
Ammo Airmen from the 35th Maintenance Squadron at Misawa Air Base, Japan, test a small diameter bomb. Photo by Staff Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley/U.S. Air Force

Dec. 8 (UPI) -- The Boeing Co. has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Air Force for GBU-39 SDB, or laser small diameter bombs.

The deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, is valued at more than $10.5 million under the terms of a firm-fixed-price contract, meaning additional costs that may be accumulated by Boeing will not be reimbursed by the Pentagon.

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The small diameter bomb is preferred by the U.S. Air Force and other military services over the bulky 2,000-pound Mark-84 general purpose bomb because it allows an aircraft to carry up to four small diameter bombs versus one Mark-84.

Boeing's laser small diameter bomb is considered a "next-generation strike weapon" that can be deployed from both internal and external carriage systems on an aircraft.

The bomb itself is equipped with an Advanced Anti-Jam Global Positioning System-aided Inertial Navigation System that directs the weapon towards the position of a given target.

Work on the contract will be performed in St. Louis, and is expected to be completed by March 2019, according to the Pentagon.

More than $10.5 million from fiscal year 2018 procurement funds will be payed to Boeing at the time of the award contract.

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