The Air Force has awarded Boeing $217.1 million in two contracts to continue production of Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits and Small Diameter Bombs, according to a Jan. 7 company release. Under JDAM Lot 13, Boeing will produce more than 4,000 additional tail kits for the Air Force and Navy, delivering them in 2010 and 2011. Working on SDB Lot 5, the company will produce some 2,500 weapons and associated carriages for the Air Force, with deliveries in 2010. The services use JDAM tail kits to turn dumb bombs (500, 1,000, and 2,000 pounds) into smart weapons and have used JDAM and the SDB to provide “effective direct-attack options” in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Dan Jaspering, Boeing’s director of direct attack programs.
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
