Contact: Ellen LeMond-Holman McDonnell Douglas (314) 232-6496

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

97-102

ST. LOUIS, May 6, 1997 -- McDonnell Douglas (NYSE: MD) has received approval from the U.S. Air Force to begin low-rate initial production of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit.

The JDAM kit, when added to the tails of traditional "dumb" bombs, significantly improves weapon accuracy. The first production lot of 937 JDAM kits will be produced under a fixed price contract value of $18,000 per unit. The kits are being developed under a $70 million joint U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps program. The U.S. Air Force issued go-ahead for low-rate initial production April 30, 1997.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for the JDAM team," said James B. Peterson, vice president of Air Force programs for McDonnell Douglas. "The Air Force go-ahead is a resounding endorsement of our efforts to produce a high-quality, affordable product."

Now in the engineering, manufacturing and development phase, JDAM has demonstrated high reliability and accuracy. JDAM has been successfully released from the F/A-18 Hornet, the F-16 and the B-2. Integration testing is also ongoing with the B-1B, B-52H and AV-8B.

To date, 53 guided weapon separation tests have been conducted. Of these, 22 tests were part of an early operational assessment conducted by the Air Force. During this assessment, JDAM achieved an overall accuracy measurement of 10.3 meters -- significantly better than the 13-meter requirement.

JDAM is one of seven pilot programs selected by the U.S. Department of Defense to test methods for streamlining the acquisition process. By incorporating the use of commercial practices and off-the-shelf components, the JDAM team was able to significantly reduce the system's cost. The JDAM team received the Defense Department's Acquisition Lightning Bolt Award in May 1996.

In addition to McDonnell Douglas, the JDAM team includes Lockheed Martin Tactical Defense Systems (mission computer), Honeywell, Inc. (inertial measurement unit), Rockwell Collins (global positioning system receiver), HR Textron (tail actuator subsystem), Lockley (tail fairing), Enser and Eagle-Picher (battery), and MDI and Lambda (power supply).

Archived Press Releases