US Air Force Increases Order for Boeing-built Joint Direct Attack Munition Kits

ST. LOUIS, March 11, 2010 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received a contract modification from the U.S. Air Force for the fiscal year 2010 production of more than 6,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits. The modification increases the overall value of this phase from $72 million to $229 million.

Boeing will deliver the kits from this order in 2011 and 2012. The FY2010 production is the third procurement of a six-year contract Boeing received in January 2008. That agreement now has a potential total value of $1.3 billion with deliveries extending through 2015, if all options are exercised.

"JDAM provides warfighters with an effective, accurate and battle-tested weapon," said Dan Jaspering, Boeing director of Direct Attack Programs. "These additional JDAMs will supplement the original contract to ensure the long-term availability of this cost-effective weapon on today’s battlefield."

JDAM is a low-cost guidance kit that converts existing 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-pound unguided free-fall bombs into accurately guided "smart" weapons. Its modular design allows customers to easily upgrade the weapon in the field to provide additional capability, such as laser guidance and extended range. Boeing has produced more than 210,000 JDAM kits since 1998. The Air Force and U.S. Navy have used JDAM weapons in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Source: BOEING