Boeing nabs five-year, $6.5B extension for JDAM guidance kit services

June 17 (UPI) -- Boeing was awarded a five-year $6.5 billion extended contract for Joint Direct Attack Munition guidance kit services for U.S. allies.

This modification brings the ceiling of the contract to more than $10 billion, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday.

The contract provides tail kits, spares, repairs and technical services in foreign military sales to unknown countries participating the U.S. foreign military sales program, the Pentagon said.

Work will be performed at Boeing's plant in St. Louis and is expected to be complete by Feb. 28, 2025.

Pentagon fiscal 2017, 2018, 2019 ammunition funds, and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds, and foreign military sales funds in the amount of $904.8 million are being obligated for the Lot 23 delivery order at the time of award.

The JDAM guidance kit contains a GPS-aided inertial navigational system that converts unguided general purpose bombs into accurate, guided "smart bombs," significantly improving their accuracy in any weather conditions and launched at a great distance from the target, according to Boeing.

The bombs weigh 552 to 2,139 pounds, and are 17 inches to 25.3 inches in diameter.

JDAM is operational on U.S. Air Force F-15Es and F-16s, and U.S. Navy F/A-18s and A/V-8Bs, as well as the aircraft of 26 other countries. The kits were first used during Operation Allied Force in the Balkans in 1999.

McDonnell Douglas Corp., which was acquired by Boeing, developed the JDAM kits under a contract first awarded in 1988.

Boeing has manufactured more than 260,000 JDAM guidance kits at its production facility in Missouri since 1998, according to the company.

Boeing in April was awarded a $250 million, 10-year contract for JDAM guidance kit services for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and allies. Fifty-two percent of the contract involves sales to the U.S. government and 48 percent involves foreign military sales to various countries.

Last October, Boeing also received a $45 million contract for technical services related to the JDAM.