US approves SDB precision munitions for Poland

An SDB moments before impacting a hardened aircraft shelter during testing. Poland is set to receive the weapon, with US government approval announced on 21 May. (US Navy)

The US government has approved the sale of Boeing GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) to Poland for an estimated USD180 million.

Announced by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 21 May, the Department of State approval covers 1,400 SDBs, related equipment, training, and support.

“The proposed sale will improve Poland's capability to meet current and future threats by enhancing its capacity to conduct effective air-to-ground strikes, reinforcing its capability to protect Polish sovereign territory, and improving its ability to meet NATO requirements,” the DSCA said.

Also known as the SDB I (the GBU-53 SDB II is named StormBreaker and built by Raytheon RTX), the GBU-39 has a stand-off range of approximately 100 km. With a weight of 130 kg, a length of 1.8 m, and a diameter of 0.19 m, the 250 lb-class weapon quadruples the number of weapons in this class that each aircraft can carry.

Its typical objective set includes hard and soft targets comprising command, control, and communications bunkers; air-defence assets; petroleum, oil, and lubricant sites; airfield targets; infrastructure targets; missiles; artillery; and anti-aircraft artillery. The SDB utilises an advanced anti-jam GPS-aided inertial navigation system (AJGPS/INS) to provide guidance to the co-ordinates of a stationary target, and is able to penetrate more than 1 m of steel-reinforced concrete.

In Polish Air Force service, the SDB will be carried by the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon and Lockheed Martin F-35A Husarz combat aircraft.

For more information on the Polish Air Force, please see Feature: Poland accelerates and expands revamp of air force to counter Russia .