The audio accompanying this write-up is presented by the Air & Space Forces Association, which champions and supports our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Discover more at afa.org
The Pentagon’s chief armaments evaluator highlighted advancements in crucial munitions for the Air Force in his most recent report, encompassing items from air-combat missiles to hypersonic systems.
The office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation published its yearly review this month, examining 18 major Air Force initiatives in different phases of assessment. Of those 18, four pertain to weaponry.
Exempted from Scrutiny
One such armament garnered significant attention in 2025: the Guided Bomb Unit-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The Air Force deployed 14 GBU-57s during Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025 when it targeted Iranian underground nuclear facilities.
This marked the initial documented deployment of the 30,000-pound deep-penetrating explosives in combat, and their triumph—the report notes that the bombs “fulfilled launch criteria, precisely navigated to their aimpoints, and operated as designed”—resulted in DOT&E withdrawing the weapon from its oversight list.
The MOP incorporates a reinforced shell capable of piercing strata of concrete, steel, and rock. Sensors within the bomb can gauge the extent of entry to trigger explosion at a specified depth. The Air Force began developing an enhancement to the MOP in response to a “pressing tactical requirement,” creating an “intelligent detonator” to guarantee weapon functionality even when target information is scarce.
The service completed an agreement with Boeing in early February for over $100 million to replenish its MOP inventory, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported.
Another program removed from DOT&E scrutiny is the AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW.
The ARRW represents one of two primary hypersonics initiatives undertaken by the Air Force and was resuscitated with reallocated funds to the program in the fiscal 2026 budget.
Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall informed legislators in 2023 that the service was “more dedicated” to its other program, the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile. That decision followed a series of early failed trials for the ARRW.
However, in 2025, then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Allvin changed direction, informing legislative heads the service would proceed with acquisition of the ARRW.
The ARRW is a standard, aircraft-deployed, boost-glide, hypersonic weapon manufactured by Lockheed Martin. It is designed to attain velocities faster than Mach 5.
The fiscal 2026 budget allocated $362 million for ARRW acquisition, and the ARRW program office plans to issue the initial manufacturing agreement in fiscal 2026, a spokesperson with Air Force Life Cycle Management told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Enhancements
The DOT&E report also highlighted a triumphant software enhancement to the long-standing AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, that has “considerably” extended its reach.
(Photo by Senior Airman Jeffrey Allen, U.S. Air Force. (Released))
AMRAAM manufacturing commenced in 1987, and the air-combat munition is usable with the F-15, F-16, and F-22 aircraft. It was initially put into service in 1991.
Trial assessments conducted in 2024 increased the reach and destructive power of the weapon, builder RTX told Air & Space Forces Magazine in September 2025.
The precise maximum distance of the AMRAAM is tactically confidential, but prior to the software enhancement, the D3 variant was estimated to cover about 80 miles.
Officials refrained from revealing how much the upgrades had amplified the missile’s reach.
Raytheon officials stated when the disclosure was made that modern electronics created room on the munition for a larger engine, delivering greater propulsion.
The primary enhancement, however, stemmed from a higher-performance power source and updated software.
That enabled designers to prolong its airborne duration, which broadened its reach.
“The thrust and flight characteristics of the missile … in that F3R variant … always possessed the potential for greater distance. We just had not been able to exploit it,” said Jon Norman, Raytheon vice president of requirements and capabilities. “So, at this point, it’s the way we’re flying it. It’s soaring to greater altitudes and for extended durations. We can fly at a considerably quicker velocity upon deployment, which just enhances the efficacy of the missile.”
DOT&E officials are persisting in overseeing development on the GBU-53/B Stormbreaker Small Diameter Bomb Increment II, or SDB II.
GBU-53 stormbreaker” class=”wp-image-136729″/>The 250-pound aerial glide munition is an interconnected armament with a secure data transmission link, enabling it to engage mobile objectives in unfavorable atmospheric conditions at safe distances.
The connectivity features permit either airborne or ground controllers to transmit mid-flight target revisions and empower operators to terminate an operation after deployment, according to Navy data.
The weapon is a collaborative Air Force-Navy initiative which witnessed Increment II deployment on an F-15E in 2020, followed by primary functional readiness on the aircraft in 2022. The Navy incorporated the munition on its F-18E/F in late 2023.
The bomb was deployed by American combat aircraft to strike Houthi locations in Yemen in 2025.
The Pentagon weapons tester urges the branches to further optimize the weapon’s encryption procedures and to collaborate with testing facilities to alleviate F-35 auto-illumination limitations, thereby permitting SDB II deployment across all platforms.
The audio accompanying this write-up is presented by the Air & Space Forces Association, which champions and supports our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Discover more at afa.org