More Laser JDAM sensors from Boeing ordered by NAVAIR
NewsApril 18, 2012
ST. LOUIS. The U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded Boeing a contract for more Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (Laser JDAM) sensors. The $12.5 million contract is the second this year for Laser JDAM units. The first procured 700 sensors and this one is for 1,116 sensors.
The latest order is NAVAIR's third Low Rate Initial Production contract for its Direct Attack Moving Target Capability (DAMTC). The orders enable U.S. Air Force officials to maintain Laser JDAM combat inventory levels. Deliveries for each laser sensor contract will start in this month and continue through February 2013.
JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit, which converts existing unguided free-fall bombs into near precision-guided weapons. The sensors have added the capability to prosecute maritime threats, moving targets, and other relocatable targets of opportunity. Boeing engineers intentionally produced the JDAM kit to be modular so that the product can evolve with a variety of technological upgrades, such as wing kits that increase its range, improved immunity to GPS jamming, as well as an all-weather radar sensor.
The laser sensor for a conventional JDAM kit is a cost-effective option that is easy for ordnance crews to install and familiar for pilots who already work with JDAM, says Kristin Robertson, director, Boeing Direct Attack Weapons.
Boeing finished the testing and development phase for its Laser JDAM less than 17 months after the government identified it as an urgent operational need in early 2007. Laser JDAM has been used by the Air Force in combat operations in Iraq in August 2008.
