It's the world's most popular bomb, and an immensely profitable
product for Boeing. The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is
rolling off the production line in St Charles, Missouri, at a
rate that is due to build up to 2,800 a month by August. The potential
market is estimated at 237,000 guidance kits in the USA and another
53,000 for export, and the weapon has been cleared for export
to Oman, the UAE, Italy, Israel, Denmark and South Korea.
JDAM is delivered to the user in the form of tail and aerodynamic
strake kits, packed in sealed storage containers, which are attached
to standard bombs in the field. The St Charles plant, a model
of 'lean production' technology, receives components from Boeing's
suppliers in reusable plastic containers. This minimizes damage,
eliminates trash and helps control inventory, since suppliers
cannot ship more component sets than containers. When the containers
arrive, they are loaded on to gravity ramps that hold three days'
inventory. Webcams above each ramp allow suppliers to monitor
inventory at St Charles in real time.
Assembly operations are simple, and helped by tools such as automatic
lifting devices that follow the operator's own movements, and
power screwdrivers that light up when they reach an accurate torque.
An illuminated board on the wall indicates if any part of the
assembly line has stopped for lack of parts or for some other
reason, accompanied by a beep that causes the couple-of-dozen
workers in the plant to pop their heads up "like prairie
dogs," as one observer noted.
Current versions include the GBU-31, with a 2,000-pound warhead;
the 1,000-pound GBU-32; and the 500-pound GBU-38, currently being
flight-tested on the B-2 stealth bomber. Planned enhancements
include a Precision Guidance Kit (PGK), which is being studied
by the Navy as part of a Hornet Advanced Reactive Targeting (HART)
concept. This would use the Hornet's new Raytheon Advanced Targeting
FLIR pod to image a target of opportunity and generate a 'template'
for an autonomous imaging seeker in the nose of the weapon. Also
under study is an extended-range variant, JDAM-ER, with folding
wings. Boeing estimates that the wing kit would cost as little
as $10,000 per unit and would allow a strike aircraft to deliver
weapons over a wider footprint.
