St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 23, 2002
BOEING GEARS UP TO DOUBLE BOMB-KIT WORK
By Christopher Carey
Boeing Co.'s missile plant in St. Charles is gearing up for another big increase in production of tail kits that turn ordinary bombs dropped from military jets into satellite-guided smart bombs.
The bombs have been used heavily in the U.S. offensive in Afghanistan, and they would figure prominently in any effort to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, defense experts say.
"I think (the Joint Direct Attack Munition) is going to be critical to any operation against Iraq," said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a research group in Alexandria, Va.
Boeing is producing 1,500 Joint Direct Attack Munition, or JDAM, kits a month in St. Charles. An appropriations package pending in Congress would boost output to 2,800 kits a month by mid-2003. At that production rate, 40 to 50 people will be employed on the program, said Robert Algarotti, a Boeing spokesman.
Boeing is building a 36,000-square-foot annex to its JDAM production area to prepare for the higher volume, Algarotti said.
The company has been increasing its output of JDAM kits since April 1999, when U.S. forces used them successfully in Serbia and Kosovo, he said.
JDAM-equipped bombs have been the most widely used precision weapons in Afghanistan, where nearly 7,000 have been dropped on targets.
JDAM kits fit over the end of 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs and feature a global positioning and inertial navigation system that helps to guide the weapons to their targets.
The technology has two main selling points, said Jack Spencer, a defense and national-security analyst for the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"It's incredibly accurate, and it's inexpensive," Spencer said.
Even at a price of about $20,000 per weapon, JDAMs can be less expensive than conventional bombs because fewer are needed to knock out a target, Spencer said.
The technology was developed after the Persian Gulf War, to meet a need for weapons that could hit home in all weather and visibility conditions.
JDAM-equipped bombs can be launched from a distance of 15 miles and from an altitude of 45,000 feet.
The weapons systems aren't infallible, however.
A 2,000-pound, JDAM-equipped bomb landed about 100 yards from a group of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in December, killing three and wounding 19. Five Afghan soldiers who were helping to track down al-Qaida or Taliban forces also were killed.
"These are human-made, human-designed systems," Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said at the time. "They're going to have flaws."
The Defense Department began buying JDAM kits in 1998, primarily for the Air Force. The Navy also uses them, and the kits have been approved for sale to foreign allies.
Rick Smith, president of International Association of Machinists District 837, remembers when only three or four people worked on the JDAM program in St. Charles.
The numbers are still modest, but the growth is encouraging, Smith said. "It's important as far as jobs are concerned, and it's important to national security."
Boeing produced JDAM kits at a rate of 700 a month in 2000. It boosted output to 1,000 a month last year and increased production even more sharply in the first half of this year.
Boeing reached a production rate of 1,500 a month in June, and it plans to push the figure to 2,000 a month by year's end.
The Defense Department would like a stockpile of 40,000 to 50,000 JDAM-equipped bombs, Pike said.
The kits originally were designed for 2,000-pound bombs. Later versions were developed for 1,000-pound bombs.
Boeing won a $45 million contract in September 2000 to develop a JDAM variant for 500-pound bombs.
The Air Force flight-tested one of the 500-pound versions in April at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. An F-16 fighter launched the weapon six miles away from its target, at an altitude of 20,000 feet. The bomb followed its planned flight path to score a direct hit.
Copyright 2002 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
