The Boeing-Lockheed Martin team vying for the Small Diameter Bomb Increment II program successfully completed its first flight test of its SDB II last month, according to a June 6 Boeing release. An F-15E Strike Eagle flying out of Eglin AFB, Fla., launched the team’s SDB II, which then opened its control fins and wings and followed its planned mission. Boeing and Lockheed hope to win the sole source system design and development phase of the program in late 2009 over SDB II rival Raytheon.
The Air Force is upgrading some 70 MQ-9 Reapers to a new configuration that will keep the type capable and relevant to the near-peer fight for another 15 years. It awarded General Atomics a $272.3 million contract to enhance the Reaper's weapons, electric power, connectivity, and resistance to jamming, among…