Boeing

The Boeing [NYSE: BA] Company delivered the 100,000th tail kit on December 2 for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) weapon to the U.S. Military at its weapons facility near St. Louis.

During the delivery ceremony, U.S. Air Force Major General Robert Chedister, commander of the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., praised the St. Charles, Mo., based team responsible for producing the JDAM tail kit.

Boeing began producing the JDAM tail kits in 1998, which provide near precision capability to Mk 80 series bombs through GPS satellite-aided navigation. Initial production was 900 tail kits per year, but following the September 11, 2001 attack; tail kit production skyrocketed to 3,000 tail kits per month.

The U.S Air Force was the first JDAM customer and in six years, has received more than half of all JDAMs produced. The U.S Navy has received more than 37,000 JDAMs, with the remaining produced for international customers.

The JDAM is a satellite-controlled, near-precision weapon ranging in size from 500 to 2,000 pounds. The 500-pound variant is the newest member of the JDAM family and is being used extensively in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan .