by Bill Carey
Boeing Defense is increasing production of its joint direct attack munition (JDAM) guidance kit to meet the demand for precision-guided weapons in Middle East battle zones. The manufacturer is churning out 119 tail kits daily from its facility in St. Charles, Mo., where it recently initiated a second shift. Plans call for producing 150 tail kits daily by next summer.
“There is probably no other product that today is as in demand as this product is by our U.S. and international warfighters,” said Beth Kluba, Boeing Defense vice president for weapons and missile systems. “Almost all of the weapons that are being deployed right now in the Middle East conflict are precision-guided munitions and most of those are the JDAM product.”
The JDAM kit converts unguided, free-fall bombs into precision guided smart weapons by adding a new tail section containing inertial guidance and GPS systems, with structural body strakes for stability and lift. Boeing Defense received its first contract to supply the tail kits in 1997 as an urgent operational capability. The manufacturer has produced more than 250,000 tail kits and this year plans to celebrate its 300,000th unit.
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