DSEI 2025: U.S. RTX StormBreaker smart weapon multiplies strike power with fewer fighter jets
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
American defense company RTX displayed at DSEI 2025 in London, UK, its StormBreaker smart weapon, a precision-guided glide munition designed to give allied air forces decisive strike capabilities in increasingly complex and contested environments. The unveiling underscores a strong shift toward compact, all-weather weapons that combine adaptability, reach, and networked targeting to maintain air superiority against evolving threats.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
RTX StormBreaker smart weapon is a compact all-weather glide munition with a tri-mode seeker that allows fighter jets to engage moving or stationary targets over 72 km (45 miles) while reducing the number of aircraft needed for precision strike missions. (Picture source: Army Recognittion Group)
The RTX StormBreaker is presented as an all-weather smart weapon solution. Its winged airframe and advanced sensors allow operators to detect, track, and destroy moving targets even in the most challenging battlefield conditions. Darkness, rain, fog, smoke, and dust often provide cover for adversaries, but the weapon autonomously detects and classifies threats through these obscurants, ensuring reliable target engagement when visibility is degraded. RTX officials highlighted that this capability addresses a long-standing requirement, as poor weather and environmental concealment continue to put warfighters at risk during strike operations.
At the heart of the system is a powerful tri-mode seeker designed for maximum operational flexibility. Millimeter-wave radar enables target detection and tracking in adverse weather. Imaging infrared provides precision discrimination against multiple targets in cluttered environments. A semi-active laser mode allows coordination with either airborne or ground-based designators. By sharing targeting data across all three modes, the seeker ensures StormBreaker can prosecute both stationary and mobile threats at any time of day and under any atmospheric conditions.
The weapon’s size represents a major operational advantage. Weighing just 93 kg (204 lb), StormBreaker can be carried in greater numbers than larger strike weapons, enabling fewer aircraft to neutralize more targets within a single sortie. Its glide wings extend strike range beyond 72 km (45 miles), keeping aircraft outside the envelope of hostile air defense systems and reducing exposure time in contested airspace. For aircrews, this translates directly into greater survivability and mission efficiency.
StormBreaker is currently integrated on the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, where it is approved for operational use. Integration work is also underway on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and all variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Once fielded across these platforms, the weapon will significantly expand allied capacity for precision, multi-role strike missions, from destroying armored vehicles to neutralizing small naval craft.
StormBreaker offers fighter jets a compact, long-range, and highly adaptive strike solution that reduces the number of aircraft required to achieve the same effects as larger weapons. Its ability to fly more than 72 km (45 miles) to hit moving targets minimizes crew risk and maximizes efficiency in contested environments. It is defined as a smart weapon because of its integrated seeker and onboard processing, which allow it to autonomously find, classify, and destroy targets even under poor visibility conditions that would defeat conventional munitions. For NATO forces, this combination of efficiency, precision, and resilience represents a decisive new edge on tomorrow’s battlefield.Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition GroupAlain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
American defense company RTX displayed at DSEI 2025 in London, UK, its StormBreaker smart weapon, a precision-guided glide munition designed to give allied air forces decisive strike capabilities in increasingly complex and contested environments. The unveiling underscores a strong shift toward compact, all-weather weapons that combine adaptability, reach, and networked targeting to maintain air superiority against evolving threats.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
RTX StormBreaker smart weapon is a compact all-weather glide munition with a tri-mode seeker that allows fighter jets to engage moving or stationary targets over 72 km (45 miles) while reducing the number of aircraft needed for precision strike missions. (Picture source: Army Recognittion Group)
The RTX StormBreaker is presented as an all-weather smart weapon solution. Its winged airframe and advanced sensors allow operators to detect, track, and destroy moving targets even in the most challenging battlefield conditions. Darkness, rain, fog, smoke, and dust often provide cover for adversaries, but the weapon autonomously detects and classifies threats through these obscurants, ensuring reliable target engagement when visibility is degraded. RTX officials highlighted that this capability addresses a long-standing requirement, as poor weather and environmental concealment continue to put warfighters at risk during strike operations.
At the heart of the system is a powerful tri-mode seeker designed for maximum operational flexibility. Millimeter-wave radar enables target detection and tracking in adverse weather. Imaging infrared provides precision discrimination against multiple targets in cluttered environments. A semi-active laser mode allows coordination with either airborne or ground-based designators. By sharing targeting data across all three modes, the seeker ensures StormBreaker can prosecute both stationary and mobile threats at any time of day and under any atmospheric conditions.
The weapon’s size represents a major operational advantage. Weighing just 93 kg (204 lb), StormBreaker can be carried in greater numbers than larger strike weapons, enabling fewer aircraft to neutralize more targets within a single sortie. Its glide wings extend strike range beyond 72 km (45 miles), keeping aircraft outside the envelope of hostile air defense systems and reducing exposure time in contested airspace. For aircrews, this translates directly into greater survivability and mission efficiency.
StormBreaker is currently integrated on the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle, where it is approved for operational use. Integration work is also underway on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and all variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Once fielded across these platforms, the weapon will significantly expand allied capacity for precision, multi-role strike missions, from destroying armored vehicles to neutralizing small naval craft.
StormBreaker offers fighter jets a compact, long-range, and highly adaptive strike solution that reduces the number of aircraft required to achieve the same effects as larger weapons. Its ability to fly more than 72 km (45 miles) to hit moving targets minimizes crew risk and maximizes efficiency in contested environments. It is defined as a smart weapon because of its integrated seeker and onboard processing, which allow it to autonomously find, classify, and destroy targets even under poor visibility conditions that would defeat conventional munitions. For NATO forces, this combination of efficiency, precision, and resilience represents a decisive new edge on tomorrow’s battlefield.
Written by Alain Servaes – Chief Editor, Army Recognition Group
Alain Servaes is a former infantry non-commissioned officer and the founder of Army Recognition. With over 20 years in defense journalism, he provides expert analysis on military equipment, NATO operations, and the global defense industry.
