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| Jet-Powered JDAM Production Is A Go For The U.S. Navy | |
| 2026-08-10 | |
[TWZ] Putting JDAM-LR into production will give the Navy an important new stream of lower-cost standoff munitions for its carrier air wings.
In a press release yesterday, Boeing announced that it had received an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) from the U.S. Air Force valued at $75 million related to JDAM-LR production for the Navy. The Air Force serves as the central manager for the joint-service JDAM program. By definition, a UCA means the parties still have to work out the final details of the deal, which could include the price point. UCAs are often used to kick-start work in response to urgent requirements. “This first production contract is a major milestone for the JDAM LR program, demonstrating our ability to deliver long-range precision-strike capability at a significantly lower cost,” Bob Ciesla, Vice President of Boeing Precision Engagement Systems, said in a statement, underscoring confidence in the new UCA. “Scaling production of the GBU-75 will provide the fleet with an affordable, sustainable solution designed to eliminate long-range land and sea-based threats to U.S. and international forces and enable them to safely and effectively operate in a contested battlespace.” GBU-75/B is the designation that has been applied, so far, to complete JDAM-LR munitions. Boeing’s release yesterday also revealed that the core component of the weapon, the so-called Payload Delivery Unit (PDU), has now also been designated BSU-111/B. Like unpowered JDAMs, the JDAM-LR is more of a kit than a munition by itself. The PDU contains the guidance section, systems to interface with the launching aircraft, a pop-out wing kit, and a compact turbojet engine (understood to be the TDI-J85). PDU is then combined with a standardized low-drag 500-pound-class bomb as its ‘warhead’ to create a complete weapon. As with JDAM variants – which also come in 1,000-pound-class and 2,000-pound-class variations – the modular kit-type design creates immense flexibility for how JDAM-LRs can be configured. In the past, Boeing has shown depictions of what it originally called the Powered JDAM (PJDAM) paired with general-purpose high-explosive bombs and air-dropped shallow-water anti-ship mines. There are many other 500-pound-class bombs with this same form factor already available, including specialized designs intended to reduce the risk of collateral damage. | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2026-08-10 07:45 |