Boeing gets fresh bomb orders

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — In the midst of the war in Afghanistan, the Navy ordered 1,074 more of one of the conflict’s most-used weapons — Boeing-built bombs with satellite-guided tail kits that steer them to their targets.

The rapid pace of bombing during nine weeks of daily airstrikes means that half of the more than 10,000 Joint Direct Attacks Munition kits manufactured so far could have been used, according to estimates.

"We’ve been using them with great effect, but also in very large numbers and we’re looking at how we can build those inventories back as rapidly as possible," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said.

The JDAM satellite guidance kits can be fitted on 1,000-pound or 2,000-pound bombs dropped from a variety of bombers and attack jets. A pilot or bombardier enters target coordinates into the bomb’s computer, and the JDAM system controls the tail fins to steer the bomb to its target.

The weapons are relatively inexpensive — about $25,000 each, including the bomb, compared with $1 million each for Tomahawk cruise missiles. They can be dropped from up to 15 miles away and from as high as 45,000 feet.

The JDAM was first used in Kosovo in 1999 and has gotten rave reviews from Pentagon officials for its accuracy and relatively low cost. Although the weapon has been involved in the war’s most serious blunders — including an errant strike that killed three U.S. soldiers and six of their Afghan allies — military officials plan to use many more.

Six hundred of the Navy’s new JDAMs order are due by the end of December, said Robert Algarotti, a spokesman for Boeing. The other 474 the Navy requested during the war are to be ready by March.

Pentagon officials have not asked Boeing to speed up production or make any more JDAMs than have been ordered already because the war in Afghanistan could be winding down, Algarotti said Monday.

About a dozen assembly line employees make JDAMs at a factory in St. Charles, Mo. The factory can make 1,000 JDAMs a month, but could make 1,600 per month or more if Boeing adds another shift, Algarotti said.