Precision weapons command more attention, resources.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

The Pentagon plans to allocate a larger share of its precision-weapons spending to three programs--the joint direct attack munition, the small diameter bomb and the joint air-to-surface standoff missile, Defense Department officials said.

The JDAM--produced by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, headquartered in Sr. Louis--is a relatively low-cost kit that converts existing, unguided, free-fall bombs into accurately guided "smart" weapons.

The kit adds a new tail section to existing inventories of 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound bombs. The tail section contains a mission computer, inertial measurement unit, global-positioning system receiver and battery-operated actuators to control the moveable fins. This guidance system allows a JDAM to be launched up to 15 miles from the target in virtually any weather and strike within three meters of its intended target.

Weather is an important factor, said Steven F. Butler, director of the Air Force Air Armament Center, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. In Desert Storm, cloudy weather often forced allied aircraft to fly below the clouds to drop their bombs, making them more vulnerable to enemy air defenses, he told a symposium sponsored by the Precision Strike Association in Laurel, Md.

Several JDAMs can be loaded on a single aircraft and each aimed at different targets. In 2002 tests at China Lake, Calif., an Air Force F-15E fighter launched five 2,000-pound JDAMs, successfully attacking five separate targets.

In addition to the F-15E, JDAMs can be dropped from a wide range of long-range bombers and fighters flown by the Air Force, Navy and Marines.

For the military services, one of the JDAMs' most attractive features is its relative low price. Before production began in 1998, the government estimated that the kits would cost approximately $40,000 apiece. Boeing delivered the weapon for much less than half that amount, according to company spokesman Denny Kline.

As a result, Pentagon officials have been quite pleased. "JDAM is absolutely magnificent," Edward C. (Pete) Aldridge Jr., undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters.

During NATO'S 1999 Kosovo operation, Boeing doubled JDAM production to meet the needs of allied forces, completing more than 1,000 kits per month.

Increased Production

As the war on terror got underway, JDAM production stepped up again. In September of 2002, Boeing was awarded a $378 million contract for an additional 18,840 kits. By August of this year, the company expects to be producing JDAMs at a rate of 2,800 per month, requiring it to expand its production facility in Sr. Charles, Mo.

"The next...