B-2 brings down the house at Combat Hammer

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Torey Griffith
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
High above the Utah desert, a pair of B-2 stealth bombers glide silently through the sky. As the bomb-bay doors open, a rainbow of GBU-31 joint direct attack munitions begin their final descent to the earth, where things aren't so tranquil.

The 2,000-pound munitions, guided by global positioning satellites, will impact the earth violently, under the watchful eye of a team of evaluators, who, combined with high-speed camera imagery and data sent from the bombs themselves, will assess the effectiveness of the weapons and the systems that deliver them.

"Combat Hammer, the code name of the U.S. Air Force evaluation program for air-to-ground munitions is an ongoing assessment of the operational effectiveness and reliability of precision-guided munitions and weapons systems employed by the 509th Bomb Wing and other combat units," said Maj. William Woodward, assistant director of operations for the 72nd Test and Evaluation Squadron here. "The exercise creates tactical scenarios that are both demanding and realistic to see how well we, and other units, perform. This year, we're executing with both GBU-31s, and GBU-28 penetrators."

The B-2 flew among other bombers, fighters and drones, a showcase of the world's greatest air power in action.

"Everyone involved in this exercise is honing and improving their skills with actual weapons that could be used in combat," said Maj. Kevin Templin, 509th Bomb Wing weapons officer.

"By evaluating the process end to end - building weapons, loading them on the aircraft, launching the jets and flying to the range, releasing and guiding them to the targets - we are able to assess the reliability, maintainability and accuracy of the B-2 weapons system."

While the U.S. is unmatched in its abilities, accuracy and reliability, the Air Force still strives for excellence.

"As good as we are right now, there are many reasons why improvements in tactics, weapons precision and the reliability of specific components enhance national defense," Major Woodward said. "The more precise we can be with our weapons, the less we'll have to release in combat to destroy the targets the combatant commander wants destroyed."
Destroying the targets, and only the targets, is key.

"More precision also means less worry about collateral damage, breaking things we didn't intend to break and killing people we didn't intend to kill," Major Woodward said.
U.S. officials aren't the only ones with eyes on America's deadliest weapons platforms.

"With the stealth capabilities and range of the B-2, and the precision of the JDAM, we can put a lot of high explosive anywhere in the world a combatant commander needs it," Major Woodward said. "Combat Hammer verifies that the B-2 continues to be the greatest combination of stealth, range, payload and precision lethality the United States has in its arsenal."