With the air war against ISIS in full swing these days it appears the Air Force and Navy as well as other allied forces are running short of bombs. It is being reported that both services are asking Boeing to ramp up production for laser guided and other munitions.
Did You Know the Navy Still Loads Bombs by Hand? Yes, they do!
“We’re ramping significantly across the portfolio, not just with [Joint Direct Attack Munition],” said Cindy Gruensfelder, Boeing’s director of direct attack munitions.
“But with JDAM, we’re currently on a path by July of this year to ramp to a 150 weapons a day [rate] or over 36,500 [tail kits] per year — that is two full shifts at our facility,” she told reporters during a media briefing Tuesday at Boeing’s facilities near Washington, D.C.
“To fast forward to the usage rates we’re seeing from some of the warfighters … usage of weapons for JDAM in particular was 80 a day on average,” she said of Boeing’s contribution. – DoDBuzz
Boeing is hoping to be able to produce more than 8,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) per year.
Featured image of U.S. Marine ordnance handlers loading 500-pound GBU-12 MK-83 laser guided bombs onto F/A-18 “Hornet” strike fighters assigned to the “Black Knights” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron Three One Four (VMFA-314) by US Navy
