Boeing Completes 1st Flight Tests of MK-84 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 28, 2010 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced today that it successfully completed the first flight tests of the MK-84 Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (Laser JDAM) this summer at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The first two of seven planned tests at Eglin demonstrated the 2,000-pound weapon's precision strike capability against fixed, relocatable and moving targets.

During the tests in July, two inert MK-84 Laser JDAM weapons were released from a U.S. Air Force F-16 test aircraft flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet and a speed of Mach 0.95. Both weapons flew a series of aggressive, preprogrammed maneuvers to verify their maneuverability and aerodynamic performance.

"Boeing continues to develop weapon systems to meet today's changing battlefield requirements to make smart bombs even smarter," said Brian Schoene, MK-84 Laser JDAM program manager for Boeing. "The MK-84 Laser JDAM is an example of Boeing's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of JDAM, the most reliable and effective weapon in the U.S. Air Force and Navy inventories."

An existing JDAM becomes a Laser JDAM with the installation of the Precision Laser Guidance Set (PLGS). The MK-84 PLGS uses the same laser sensor as the 500-pound MK-82 Laser JDAM, which has already been fielded with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and internationally.

"JDAM has been the warfighter's weapon of choice for more than a decade," said Kerry Bush, JDAM program manager for Boeing. "Laser JDAM demonstrates how the Boeing team is using affordable technology to expand the capabilities of a standard JDAM. By adding the PLGS feature, warfighters can now attack relocatable and moving land and maritime targets with the same precision and reliability that they rely on every day with the existing JDAM."

Known as the world's most accurate bomb guidance kit, JDAM is a GPS-aided, near-precision weapon used extensively by the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and global allies in combat operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq. Boeing has produced more than 215,000 JDAM guidance kits since 1998.