Boeing Receives Contract to Further Develop Dual-Role Missile

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a $5.2 million U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract to demonstrate the effectiveness of Guidance Integrated Fuzing (GIF) technology developed under the Seeker Integrated Target Endgame Sensor (SITES) program.

"This fuzing capability for SITES will reduce weight and save space in the Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM)," said David Moos, Boeing program manager for SITES. "Doing so will make JDRADM that much more effective in carrying out its dual roles."

JDRADM is the first next-generation advanced missile to combine air-to-air and air-to-ground mission capability in a single weapon.

The 33-month Task 2 contract allows Boeing to use its extensive modeling and simulation capabilities, algorithm-development history, and field-test experience to demonstrate the GIF approach.

The Task 2 contract was competitively awarded to Boeing after a two-contractor, $600,000 Task 1 effort was awarded in October 2007. The SITES contract followed a $4.2 million contract awarded in May 2007 for the Dual Role Air Dominance Missile - Technology (DRADM-T) program, which focused on the missile's propulsion and control systems. The Task 2 work begins in July at Boeing's Huntington Beach, Calif., facilities. Boeing designed the GIF approach and will lead a team including Science Applications International Corp. and Applied Research Associates in refining and evaluating GIF in lab and field tests.

Boeing won the AFRL JDRADM Multi-Role Responsive Ordnance Kill Mechanism (MRROKM) warhead technology thrust program in 2006. The company is executing the program's Phase 2 design and development efforts for MRROKM and DRADM-T at its weapons facility in St. Charles, Mo.