Boeing

Boeing [NYSE: BA] successfully completed developmental flight testing of its Integrated GPS Anti-Jam System (IGAS) for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) weapon system May 29 at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, Calif.

"IGAS uses digital signal processing to significantly reduce the impact of GPS jamming, allowing the warfighter to use JDAM with confidence in a variety of battlefield environments," said Boeing IGAS Program Manager Dennis Kast. "Its performance continues to exceed our highest expectations."

During the program, testers released five weapons from a U.S. Navy F/A-18 under various mission and GPS jamming scenarios. All five weapons acquired and maintained their GPS coordinates while flying to their targets.

Boeing will complete IGAS development in 2007, with deliveries planned to begin in 2008.

Known as the world's most accurate bomb, JDAM is a GPS-aided, near-precision weapon that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have used extensively in global combat operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq. JDAM guidance kits are capable of guiding 500- to 2,000-pound inventory warheads, and are widely acknowledged as the "warfighters' weapon of choice." Since 1998, Boeing has produced more than 180,000 tail kits.