Boeing has scored the first international sale of the Laser JDAM, signing a commercial contract with the German government for an undisclosed amount of the munitions, the company announced yesterday. The work will include support for integrating the modified 500-pound bombs on Tornado strike aircraft. Delivery is expected to begin in mid-2009, with options for additional units in 2009, Boeing said. Laser JDAM is a GPS-guidance-aided joint direct attack munition with a laser kit added so that the bomb can be used to attack both stationary and fast moving targets. Boeing said it expects additional orders in the near future. The US Air Force took delivery if its first Laser JDAMs earlier this year to address one of pressing warfighter needs in Southwest Asia: countering fleeting targets with precision.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth vowed to undertake far-reaching reforms on the way the U.S. military buys weapons, promising a sweeping overhaul of the way the Defense Department determines requirements, handles the acquisition process, and tests its kit. The fundamental goal, which Hegseth underscored in a 1-hour and 10-minute speech…
