The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of long-range Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Ukraine for a total of $373.6 million, the department said.
„The U.S. State Department has decided to approve the potential sale of long-range Joint Direct Attack Munitions and related equipment to the government of Ukraine.“
„The expected total price is $373.6 million“, the statement said.
It specified that Kiev had requested 1,200 KMU-572 tail units and 332 tail units KMU-556 JDAM. Ukraine will also receive FMU-139 fuzes, JDAM support equipment, spare parts, software and other components.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance system manufactured by Boeing that converts unguided bombs into precision-guided “smart” munitions. This system can be used for bombs weighing between 226 and 907 kg.
The initial specifications of the system provided for a projectile range of up to 17 miles (approximately 28 km), while an improved version developed jointly with the Royal Australian Air Force increased this to over 40 miles (approximately 64 km).
In February 2023, Bloomberg reported on US plans to supply JDAM to Ukraine. The Pentagon officially stated only that it would provide Kiev with “precision-guided” ammunition“ as part of a $1.85 billion aid package in December.
In March of that year, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat confirmed the use of JDAM smart bombs. “We use bombs called JDAMs. These are Western-type bombs that our aviation uses quite successfully against important targets. These bombs are a little less powerful, but extremely accurate. We would like to have more of these bombs to be successful on the front line“, he was quoted as saying by Ukrainska Pravda.
NBC News later reported, citing a classified Pentagon document, that the JDAM-guided bombs had malfunctioned, blaming the problem on improperly installed fuses or GPS interference.
In May 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry first announced the interception of a JDAM bomb in Ukraine, and subsequently the department repeatedly reported the destruction of these ammunition.