Air Force awards Lot 5 production contract for Raytheon's SDB II

Raytheon this week received a $141.4 million low-rate initial production contract to build 1,260 Small Diameter Bomb II munitions, the Defense Department said Tuesday evening.

The award also covers 389 single-weapon containers, 344 dual-weapon containers, training equipment and more. Work will run through the end of June 2022.

The military plans to buy 17,000 SDB II units, split between 12,000 for the Air Force and 5,000 for the Navy, to fly on several fighter, bomber, attack, gunship and unmanned aircraft. Overall, the program, which is working through development and testing delays, is slated to cost $4.6 billion.