Boeing Delivers 200,000th JDAM Tailkit

Boeing Delivers 200,000th JDAM Tailkit

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 18, 2008 -- The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] delivered the 200,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) tailkit on Sept. 17, just 10 years after JDAM guidance tailkit deliveries to the United States and allied countries began.

Boeing began JDAM production in May 1998 at its weapons manufacturing facility in St. Charles, Mo., and since then has delivered every tailkit on cost and ahead of schedule. The U.S. Air Force received the 200,000th kit.

"When the Air Force and Navy needed a reliable weapon with battlefield power, reach and aimpoint accuracy, the Boeing JDAM team delivered," said Debra Rub, Boeing vice president for Weapons Programs. "200,000 deliveries later, the team is still meeting that commitment to the warfighter on schedule and on target."

Lynda Rutledge, director of the 708th Armament Systems Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., added her appreciation of JDAM: "After 10-plus years of production, 200,000 units produced for Air Force, Navy and international inventories, and over 23,000 combat drops, JDAM has become the warfighters' weapon of choice," she said.

JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit that converts existing free-fall bombs into accurately guided smart weapons. With its Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System guidance, JDAM provides near-precision accuracy against a variety of targets in any weather. In addition to the four baseline weapons, the JDAM family also includes Laser JDAM, which was deployed operationally earlier this year. Future enhancements under development include JDAM Extended Range and Radar JDAM.

Boeing is currently under contract to build an additional 11,670 JDAM tailkits for the United States and its allies in the coming years, with additional quantities in the planning stages.

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