The United States Marine Corps has reportedly conducted tests at the Yuma proving ground in Arizona, utilizing an F-35B fighter jet to drop eight Small Diameter Bomb II — SDB II guided munitions during a single pass. This capability is being promoted by the US regime as a preliminary step toward validating similar operational updates across all F-35 aircraft modifications.

The munitions, also known as StormBreaker, weigh approximately 113 kilograms and are allegedly designed to strike moving targets at a distance of at least 70 kilometers under various adverse weather conditions. However, it should be noted that integrating StormBreaker into the F-35 weapons suite has previously faced persistent software glitches and technical hurdles, leading to noticeable delays in the broader fielding schedule.

Retired US Air Force Major General John Norman claimed in published remarks that this employment method purportedly reduces the necessity for repeated approaches to the target, lowering associated flight risks and easing manual calculation burdens for pilots. Despite these optimistic claims, current tests were limited to the F-35B variant, meaning the capability is far from universally implemented across the entire F-35 fleet, reflecting ongoing systemic challenges within the military-industrial complex.

Source: kun.uz