Jane Edwards
A Raytheon Technologies business and the U.S. Navy demonstrated the deployment of a StormBreaker smart weapon from an F-35B Lightning II fighter jet of the Marine Corps.
An F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft also showed its network connectivity capabilities during the test after tracking the Raytheon Missiles & Defense-built weapon through a common network following its release from F-35B, the company said Monday.
“The weapon’s operational flexibility increases the F-35’s capability and capacity, and it helps limit the time our warfighters spend in harm’s way,” said Alison Howlett, StormBreaker program director at Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
“StormBreaker allows pilots to hit moving targets in adverse weather conditions, which our adversaries have relied on in the past to avoid detection,” added Howlett.
According to Raytheon, the developmental and operational tests of the StormBreaker munition and F-35B will continue and the Navy is expected to declare initial operational capability status on the Super Hornet once operational testing is completed.
The demonstration came a year after the U.S. Air Force fielded StormBreaker on the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft.
