The Air Force awarded Boeing a $326 million contract for 15,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition tailkits, according to a March 31 release. Work on the Lot 20 tailkits will be done at Boeing’s St. Louis, Mo., facility and is expected to be finished by March 29, 2018. The order also includes technical services task management, non-warranty support induction and evaluation, and system field support. The Air Force is working to rebuild its munitions stockpile to offset heavy use of preferred munitions, such as JDAMs and Hellfire missiles, against ISIS leaders and facilities in Iraq and Syria. The service’s Fiscal 2017 budget looks to fund 30,600 JDAMs and more than 1,500 Hellfire missiles, the preferred weapon on remotely piloted aircraft. (See also: Munitions Dominate Procurement).
A B-52H bomber launched a simulated AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response hypersonic missile at a target some 600 miles away during the ongoing Northern Edge exercise in Alaska, the Air Force said. The simulated shot was a success and demonstrated Airborne Battle Management System techniques to facilitate the kill chain for…