Washington plans to send Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) bombs to Ukraine, industry officials have told US business media.
Made by Boeing, the heavy, GPS-guided 500-2,000 pound (230-910 kilogram) glide bombs have a range of up to 72 km, and consist of a bolt-on conversion kit that turns unguided ‘dumb bombs’ in to precision-guided ‘smart’ weapons.
The JDAM-ERs are said to be part of a $1.85 billion weapons package announced by the White House in December, with the US Air Force reportedly tapping Boeing for a $40.5 million JDAM order in January, with the order expected to be fulfilled by the end of June. The cost of an individual JDAM varies considerably depending on configuration and features – from $18,000-$40,000, with the extended range modification sold for a premium, especially to foreign clients.
The efficacy of sending the air-dropped weapons system to Kiev may be questionable, given the challenges the Ukrainian Air Force faces in challenging Russian air superiority in the area of the military operation. Last week, the Russian military said it had destroyed some 385 Ukrainian warplanes and 208 helicopters since the start of the conflict last February.
The US and its allies are currently mulling the delivery of fighter jets to Kiev which would be capable of carrying JDAMs, including F-16s, but no firm commitment has been made to date.
The US has exported JDAMs to dozens of countries around the world, including allies in Europe and Asia, plus Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, Egypt, Pakistan, Morocco, Chile, Indonesia and Taiwan. Introduced into service with the US military in the mid-to-late 1990s, JDAMs were used extensively in US wars of aggression in Afghanistan, and Iraq, the NATO bombing campaign in Libya in 2011, and the US and Saudi-led bombings of Yemen.
The weapons were also used by US allies, including Turkiye in its battles against Kurdish militias, the Pakistani army against the insurgency in the Asian nation's northwest, and the Philippines military against Daesh* fighters.
While they have been touted for their precision and cost-effectiveness, JDAMs’ service record got off to a rocky start. In late 2001, a B-52 bomber providing close air support to US and allied forces in Afghanistan killed three US troops and five Afghans, and injured over 40 others, and nearly killed then-freshly appointed interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
In a report in 2003, Human Rights Watch criticized the deployment of JDAMs during the invasion of Iraq, citing their propensity to hit civilian neighborhoods in urban areas.
* Daesh, also known as IS / Islamic State, is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.