E50 – JDAM: the GPS-Guided Bomb

Mike sits down with Steve “Wingie” Wingfield to discuss the Joint Direct Attack Munition, aka the JDAM—the world’s first operational GPS-aided bomb. Wingie played a big role in the Air Force, doing weaponsflight testing and requirements writing, then went on to have another career at Boeing working on JDAM and other weapons. He’s one of the few people who got to see the entire storyarc, from the pain points in Desert Storm that started the whole thing, to other evolutions like Laser JDAM and extended range JDAM, and how those programscame to be. If you want a rare inside look at how one of the most successful acquisition programs in the past 30 years happened, this episode is for you. Links • Sign up for the newsletter⁠! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠! ---- Follow us on... • LinkedIn • Instagram⁠ • ⁠X⁠ • ⁠Facebook⁠ • ⁠Website⁠ ---- 00:00 01:02 intro 05:43 JDAM name origin 06:56 accuracy spec origin 10:43 Desert Storm McPeak Memo 11:16 GAM before JDAM 12:29 Kosovo combat debut 14:39 40k for 40k competition 17:44 JDAM adoption 22:50 production feast & famine 25:19 9/11 demand signal 26:33 surging with standards 28:43 Iraqi Freedom GPS jamming 29:53 Laser JDAM origins 33:38 the impact 36:01 hitting moving targets 37:54 106 mph! 39:39 MOP 41:33 JDAM-ER 41:47 Ukraine 42:53 integration and modularity 43:41 aerial mining 46:22 outro #military #airforce #navy #aviation #tech #technology #JDAM #boeing #GPS #defense #desert storm #iraq #syria #afghanistan #miltech #engineering #USA #security