The U.S. Department of Defense awarded the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) munition deal to Boeing, according to the contract announcements.
Boeing was awarded a modification to a previous contract from the Naval Air Systems Command to produce additional Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition kits for Navy, Air Force and Foreign Military Sales customers.
The deal allows for production of up to 24,000 more kits for precision strikes against moving threats.
“Laser JDAM enables precision strikes against moving threats while minimizing collateral damage,” said Karl Jeppesen, vice president of Boeing Weapons. “We’re proud to continue to provide this critical capability to our service members.”
Boeing’s Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a low-cost guidance kit that is attached to existing unguided free-fall bombs, converting them into satellite guided, precision “smart” weapons.
According to the Navy fact sheet about JDAMs, the JDAM is a guidance tail kit that converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into accurate, adverse-weather “smart” munitions.
“With the addition of a new tail section that contains an inertial navigational system and a Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance control unit, the JDAM improves the accuracy of unguided, general-purpose bombs in any weather condition,” the fact sheet states.
