Boeing has marked its recent production of the 250,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, a major milestone for a program that, since 1998, has reliably and affordably converted unguided munitions into near-precision weapons.

The company facility in St. Charles produces more than 40 JDAM kits every day, on time and on budget.

"The JDAM remains a valuable asset to warfighters around the world," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott W. Jansson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. "From the onset of the program, we saw the worth JDAM added to our mission portfolio, and we are still seeing the dividends through its advanced technologies."

With a range of more than 15 nautical miles, JDAM can defeat high-value targets in any weather, day or night, with minimal risk to air crews.

New variants such as Laser JDAM and JDAM Extended Range allow warfighters to prosecute moving targets and deploy the weapon from greater distances, capabilities that come with little to no development risk since they are based on proven technology.

"It's been an honor to produce JDAM for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and America's allies these past 15 years," said Debbie Rub, Boeing vice president and general manager, Global Strike.

"The JDAM continues to protect warfighters with its precision accuracy and unmatched mission reliability."