ARLINGTON- The Marine Corps recently conducted its first-ever ripple release of 8 Small Diameter B*mb IIs from an F-35B Lightning II at Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma International Airport (YUM) in Arizona.
The test is a key early step in proving out the capability for all F-35 variants. A ripple release drops all munitions in one pass instead of multiple go-arounds.
First 8 B*mb Ripple Release Tested on the F-35B
Marine aviators from Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 conducted the test on Sept. 15, according to retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jon Norman, Raytheon’s vice president for air and space systems, who spoke to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Norman argued that the ripple capability could become critical to the Lockheed Martin-made stealth fighter down the line, even though software and other issues have delayed fielding StormBreaker on the F-35.
“From a pilot perspective, it’s nice because you’re not sitting there exposing yourself when you have eight targets to address,” he said.
The capability also eliminates the need to do hands-on weaponeering for each b*mb.
“You address the entire target set, so it’s less workload in the cockpit, and you’re able to achieve an effect that I think the pilots are really going to appreciate,” Norman said.
The Small Diameter B*mb II (SDB II), also called StormBreaker, is a 250 pound, low-yield, precision-guided munition. It can hit moving targets in all weather conditions at ranges of at least 46 miles.
The weapon carries the designation GBU-53/B and is a joint effort between the US Air Force and the Department of the Navy. RTX’s Raytheon builds it.
StormBreaker is a guided, gliding munition with a tri-mode seeker. The seeker tracks moving targets in low-visibility conditions such as darkness, poor weather, and battlefield smoke and dust.
Kill Box and Target Prioritization
The networked weapons can be confined to a defined kill box, so they strike only a specific area on the battlefield.
“We’re able to set boundaries,” Norman said. “So, you give it a kill box, and it’ll exclude everything outside of that and only hit within that kill box.”
This is a key upgrade over the cluster munitions that StormBreaker replaces. SDB II was developed to give pilots an option to replace legacy-era cluster munitions after a 2008 Department of Defense policy directive.
The directive set a 2019 deadline to stop using the area-saturation weapons, which had high failure rates and could leave swaths of unexploded ordnance on battlefields.
Norman said a pilot could spot a boat swarm, quickly set the parameters, and launch eight 250-pound weapons to destroy the group in one pass.
“Through automated target recognition software that’s built into it, we can hit prioritized threats,” Norman said. “So, if one fails or one gets shot down, then they just reorder the prioritization.”
F-35 Integration and Upcoming Tests
Low-rate initial production of StormBreaker started in 2015. The Air Force cleared the b*mb for its objective aircraft, the F-15E Strike Eagle, in 2020. The service hopes to integrate the munition onto many more platforms, including the F-35A. The Navy cleared SDB II for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet this February, though its objective aircraft remain the F-35B and F-35C.
The F-15E and F/A-18E/F carry StormBreaker externally. The F-35 uses its internal weapons bays to maintain stealth, which adds a new factor to the ripple release process. The F-35B has the smallest internal capacity of the variants because it houses the fan that enables vertical landings.
Norman said the next ripple release test is planned for this quarter over a small range in Texas. Raytheon will then take the results to the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps.
“We’ll take those results then to the Air Force and to the Navy and the Marines and say, ‘we’ve demonstrated this capability, is this something you’re interested in?’” Norman said.
Future tests could include striking moving targets at sea with multiple munitions, Norman said. Such a capability is relevant given reports of swarming boat attacks by the Iranian military in the Strait of Hormuz. Raytheon is also refining the “ripple eight” capability for operational use.
Software Delays and TR-3 Status
The F-35 fleet is awaiting rolling software patches to fully incorporate StormBreaker. A July Government Accountability Office (GAO) report noted the delay.
“SDB II initial capability on the F-35 is delayed 2 years, and program officials said that it might be delayed 2 more years due to F-35 software development issues.”
The fleet has undergone its third technology refresh, known as TR-3. The upgrade replaced the L3Harris core processor, replaced the aircraft’s memory storage unit, and installed multicore processors. A truncated version of TR-3 was completed in 2025, but the fleet is still getting software patches to continue upgrades.
Lockheed Martin spokesperson Mireya Villarreal addressed the status in an email.
“Development on TR-3 was completed in 2025,” Villarreal said. “We continue to build on this baseline through the Block 4 modernization program, which implements upgrades including additional weapons, electronic warfare capabilities and improved sensor technology to ensure the warfighter can defeat any threat.”
Future Outlook
Norman said Raytheon is working to extend StormBreaker’s 46-mile range by exploring engine efficiencies and design work on the b*mb’s body.
“We don’t want to constrain pilots,” Norman said. “We want to give them their full operating envelope to be able to release this.”
At the program’s inception, the Pentagon planned to acquire 21,160 StormBreakers. That figure has now risen to 31,800, according to the GAO report. Norman said Raytheon produced and delivered 1,500 StormBreakers last year and is increasing output this year, though he could not provide specific delivery numbers.
“But it’s a significant increase, and we have capacity in the factory to increase more,” he said.
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