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A top US military official confirmed Washington had supplied Ukraine with JDAM-ER bypass bombs. Photo/Bloomberg
WASHINGTON – The Ukrainian Air Force can now use the Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range, or JDAM-ER, smart bomb against Russian troops. This was disclosed by a high-ranking officer of the United States Air Force (US) in Europe.
“Recently, we’ve just gotten some precision munitions (into Ukraine) that have a longer range and a little bit farther than gravity drop bombs and have (guidance) precision,” said US Air Force Gen. James Hecker, Chief of the Air Force. US Air in Europe (USAFE), as well as NATO Allied Air Command and US Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA).
“That’s a recent capability we’ve probably been able to give them in the last three weeks,” he added as quoted from The War Zone, Tuesday (7/3/2023).
He further confirmed that he was specifically talking about JDAM-ER.
However, the exact configuration of the JDAM-ER that has been received by Ukraine is so far unclear. It is also not known what platform the Ukrainian forces used to deploy these weapons.
Hecker also stressed that the total number of JDAM-ERs currently in Ukraine’s possession is limited.
“They have (the numbers) enough to carry out several attacks,” he said.
Hecker specifically noted that the JDAM-ER provides Ukrainian forces with the ability to engage entirely new targets that may be beyond the range of existing airborne weapons launchers and ground-based systems, including the US-supplied HIMARS rocket system as well as a derived variant of the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket. System (MLRS) provided by other countries.
