Boeing‘s [BA] future Powered Joint Direct Attack Munition (PJDAM) is to have a range of more than 300 nautical miles–seven times the range of the company’s JDAM Extended Range (JDAM ER) and 20 times the range of Boeing’s standard JDAM.
The PJDAM is to include the TDI J85 engine by Kratos Defense and Security Solutions’ [KTOS] Michigan-based Technical Directions, Inc. (TDI) business unit, which is a part of the company’s unmanned systems division.
“In addition to the propulsion module, the [PJDAM] system combines the proven JDAM guidance system with an innovative wing assembly, which results in a range of more than 300 nautical miles,” Boeing said in an Oct. 24 email response to questions.
PJDAM is also to have a warhead-less decoy version, which is to have a more than 700 nautical mile range. Such PJDAMs and decoys may aid military forces in overwhelming adversary air defenses.
Internal research and development (IRAD) funding is aiding the development effort, and Boeing said that “the TDI engine has received a long line of U.S. government funding.”
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s
Gray Wolf prototype cruise missile included the TDI J85. The missile was to cost $100,000 or less per unit, but a lack of funding stopped the development of the Northrop Grumman [NOC] missile in 2021 (Defense Daily, Jan. 28).
“We continue to work with U.S. and its international partners to accelerate fielding Powered JDAM in support of urgent needs over the next several years in the Indo-Pacific and elsewhere,” Boeing said on Oct. 24.
Ukrainian military forces have received the JDAM ER.
This month, Kratos said that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Boeing to supply the TDI J85 for the 500-pound PJDAM, which Kratos has said will have “high-end range at an affordable price” (Defense Daily, Oct. 16).
Boeing also said it has signed an MOU with Brisbane, Australia-based Ferra Engineering to allow Ferra to continue production of wing kits through 2028 for the 500-pound JDAM ER and “explore applications for Powered JDAM.”
Australia’s Defense Science and Technology Group developed the JDAM ER wing kits now produced by Ferra and U.S. partners, Boeing said.
The Royal Australian Air Force was the first buyer of JDAM ER under a 2011 contract.
U.S. Air Force leaders have spoken of the need for longer range air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons (Defense Daily, March 9, 2022) “We’ve invested a lot as a nation–time, effort and money–into building a low-observable force,” Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly, the head of Air Combat Command, told a McAleese & Associates defense conference in Washington, D.C. last year. “We will not get a good return on investment from this low-observable fleet if, due to weapons limitations, we have to push them into ranges where everyone’s observable.”
Boeing said that PJDAM’s lower unit costs will make up for shortages “in expensive standoff missiles” and that PJDAM will allow fourth generation aircraft, such as F-16s and F-15s, “to contribute deep magazines” to operations in which adversaries employ anti-access/area denial measures.