Missiles & Precision Guided Munitions

Providing custom and COTS assemblies for the smart weapons market

In the early 1990's, the Air Force and the Navy identified a need to develop a low cost, autonomously controlled, adverse weather kit for the MK-83, MK-84, and BLU-109 bombs. Large inventories (over 80,000) would be configured with the JDAM guidance kits and accessories. This would essentially enable "free-fall" bombs to be converted into smart munitions. The JDAM program was a pilot program in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act, which authorized relief from various DoD regulatory requirements, in order to achieve lower costs. The JDAM is one of the linchpins of the Defense Department’s precision strike warfare strategy.

Thomson Solution

The JDAM ball screw assembly has met or exceeded all technical requirements; the JDAM itself has met or exceeded all operational accuracy requirements. As part of this extremely successful and needed program, Thomson has delivered more than 8,000 mechanical assemblies through the end of 2009 (3 per kit).

Thomson is uniquely positioned to meet the low cost demands of  these and other weapons systems to meet design and sustainability goals.