Boeing gets order for 3,500 laser guidance kits to turn dumb bombs into smart munitions

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 2 March 2014. Precision-guidance munitions experts at the Boeing Co. Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis will provide 3,500 laser-guidance sections for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) under terms of a $49.8 million contract modification announced late last week.

The order calls for Boeing to provide full-rate production of 3,500 Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS) units and 5,000 kits to convert the PLGS units from the DSU-38/B configuration to the DSU-38A/B for the U.S. Air Force.

The PLGS units are part of the Laser JDAM (LJDAM) upgrade, which adds a laser seeker to the nose of a JDAM glide bomb, giving the smart munitions the ability to attack moving targets. Awarding the contract were officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.

The JDAM refers to a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs into all-weather smart munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 pounds to 2,000 pounds. The JDAM kit has integrated inertial guidance systems coupled to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.

Related: Boeing gets order for more than 1,000 laser guidance kits for JDAM smart munition

The DSU-38/B PLGS kit adds a laser seeker to the nose of a JDAM equipped bomb, which gives it the ability to engage moving targets with the aid of laser designators trained on the target from the air or from the ground.

The PLGS kit consists of a laser seeker and a wire harness fixed under the bomb body that connects the seeker with the JDAM's tail assembly that has control surfaces that steer the munition to its target. tailkit. The dual guidance system retains the ability to operate on GPS/INS alone if laser guidance is unavailable.

The JDAM has a range of more than 15 nautical miles, and its laser guidance kit has been in use since 2008. Boeing has been in full-rate production of the JDAM laser-guidance kits for the Navy since 2012.

Aircraft able to carry the JDAM include the F-15E Strike Eagle; F-16C Fighting Falcon; CF-18 Hornet; F/A-18A+/C/D Hornet; F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; F-22 Raptor; F-35 Lightning II; MQ-9 Reaper; Mitsubishi F-2; Panavia Tornado; Mirage F-1; Eurofighter Typhoon; Saab JAS 39 Gripen; and A-29 Super Tucano.

Related: Boeing to provide Laser JDAM to meet Navy need for direct-attack moving target capability weapon

On this contract modification Boeing will do the work in Fort Worth, Texas; St. Charles, Mo.; Cincinnati; Greenville, S.C.; Minneapolis; Glen Riddle, Pa.; Danville, Va.; and Georgetown, Texas, and should be finished by February 2016.

For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/bds, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.