The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing [NYSE:BA] a $75 million Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) to acquire the BSU-111/B Payload Delivery Unit (PDU) Joint Direct Attack Munition Long Range (JDAM LR), a precision-guided munition that can travel over 300 nautical miles with a 500-pound class (226-kilogram) payload. The UCA follows Boeing’s nearly $100 million internal investment in the program and clears it for initial production of PDUs for the U.S. Navy. The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or “dumb bombs”, into all-weather precision-guided munitions (PGMs). JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, giving them a published range of up to 15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 to 2,000 pounds (230 to 910 kg). When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU (Guided Bomb Unit) identifier, superseding the Mark 80 or BLU (Bomb, Live Unit) nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.
“This first production contract is a major milestone for the JDAM LR program, demonstrating our ability to deliver long-range precision-strike capability at a significantly lower cost. Scaling production of the GBU-75 will provide the fleet with an affordable, sustainable solution designed to eliminate long-range land and sea-based threats to U.S. and international forces and enable them to safely and effectively operate in a contested battlespace. JDAM LR gives operators an affordable, mass-producible option for striking targets from beyond the effective range of enemy defenses,” said Bob Ciesla, vice president of Boeing Precision Engagement Systems.
In 2010, Boeing proposed adding a jet engine tailkit to the JDAM-ER for 10 times greater range.[50][51] The U.S. Air Force initially showed no interest in the concept, but by 2020 Boeing believed the service had regained interest in acquiring low-cost cruise missiles. The Powered JDAM has the range of more sophisticated missiles through a low-cost engine while being cheaper though not having a stealthy shape or the ability to conduct low-altitude flights. By substituting the Mark 82 bomb with an extended range fuel tank, it is assessed ranges in excess of 700 nmi (1,300 km; 810 mi) could be achieved by the decoy PJDAM. In April 2026, the U.S. Navy announced its first tests of GBU-75 Joint Direct Attack Munition – Long Range (JDAM-LR) with two launches traveling 200 nautical miles to their targets off the coast of California.
JDAM LR combines the proven JDAM guidance tail kit and aircraft interface with a wing kit and compact turbojet engine to provide long-range capability for precision conventional land strike, naval strike and maritime aerial-mining missions. By leveraging existing JDAM infrastructure, it enables high-volume production and rapid integration with any aircraft capable of carrying conventional JDAM. Boeing is an industry leader in affordable precision-guided munitions and continues to invest in derivative capabilities to meet customers’ current and future needs. The system recently completed its first flight test off the coast of California, meeting the objectives of sustaining powered flight on a predefined test profile and using military-code GPS navigation while maintaining consistent guidance directly to its target.
