Boeing [BA] has delivered 10,000 laser guidance kits for the Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), a capability that was added to the bombs to enhance their ability to strike mobile targets.

An F/A-18 dropping a JDAM. Photo: Boeing
An F/A-18 dropping a JDAM. Photo: Boeing

The delivery was made earlier this month under a contract with the Navy to produce 12,442 of the units, which add the laser capability to global positioning system guidance. The Navy is also procuring the systems for the Air Force.

“JDAM has a predictive algorithm and it computes lead on a moving target, and so you keep the (laser) spot on the target, but the weapon will predict where the target is going as it has velocity and intercept that point,” John Flint, Boeing’s JDAM program manager, said

The laser seeker was brought on to the kits to counter enemy attempts to jam satellite signals that would disrupt GPS, Flint said in an interview. Boeing received the production contract in 2010 after prevailing in an industry completion.

The JDAMs with the laser guidance capability cost about $40,000 each, not including cost of the warhead, he said. Boeing received the contract for the final lot of JDAMs earlier this year, Flint said.

Boeing has internally been looking at other options to improve the targeting capability of the JDAMs, including the possibility of adding infrared or radio frequency sensors, such as radar, Flint said. He said the software that operates the systems allows for new code to be written in to add those capabilities, if the military chose to do so, he said.

The JDAM kits can be placed on 500-, 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs with minor modifications depending on the size of the munitions through a modular design, Flint said.