The Biden administration is planning to send Ukraine electronic equipment to turn unguided, air-dropped bombs into guided, all-weather “smart” munitions, The Washington Post revealed, citing sources.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a tail kit that uses an inertial navigational system and global positioning system guidance control to guide an unguided bomb to its target.
Jointly developed by the US Air Force and US Navy, the system’s navigation is fed on the aircraft before takeoff, allowing it to navigate autonomously to the target upon launch.
Strikes Within 5 Meters of Target
A free-falling JDAM-equipped bomb can strike a target within 5 meters (16.4 feet) of its location when GPS is available and 30 meters (98.4 feet) without GPS, according to the US Air Force.
The weapon can be released from a very low to very high altitude “in a dive, toss or loft and in straight and level flight with an on-axis or off-axis delivery.”
The $22,000 (2007 dollars) tail kit has an operational ceiling of 45,000-plus feet (13,677 meters).
Provides Operational Flexibility
The JDAM can be integrated with various weight-category munitions, such as the 2,000-pound (907 kilograms) BLU-109/MK 84 and the 500-pound (227 kilograms) BLU-111/MK 82.
Moreover, the kit allows multiple bombs to be launched toward single or multiple targets, enabling the Ukrainian Air Force to strike Russian individual high-value targets or a concentration of armored columns.
Compatibility Concerns
According to the USAF, the kit is compatible with US air platforms, requiring integration work to make it work with Soviet-origin Ukrainian Air Force aircraft
During the war, US contractors successfully managed to integrate the Raytheon AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile with the Ukrainian Air Force’s Soviet-origin MiG-29.