The JDAM Bomb – The Israeli Air Force’s Guided Weapon

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The advanced new bomb manufactured by “Boeing” is considered the last word in guided weapons. The ability of these bombs is that they operate in any weather conditions – day or night, without requiring the crew to maintain direct and continuous contact with the target.

“The absorption of JDAM bombs within our squadrons is a huge leap forward, perhaps signaling the largest offensive capabilities of the air force ever” said a senior officer in the Air Force. The Joint direct attack monition  JDAM system is composed of simple ‘iron bomb’. and a guidance kit.

The ‘Kit’ itself only contains three parts: steering surfaces, a tail with a satellite receiver together with a computer and a communications link with the aircraft.

In that way ,  the most basic bomb – becomes the most sophisticated bomb ever. So what about operating the bomb? During flight to a target, or even before (when on the ground), the pilot enters the points or targets to the computer installed inside the bomb. At the same time, he puts a precise location on the navigation system in the bomb tail to allow it to “know” the relative position. He uses the GPS system to release the bomb towards the target while making course corrections – using the steering surfaces.

But the advantages of the JDAM bomb do not end there. The bomb is relatively inexpensive and it does not require complicated maintenance. “The price of each bomb was estimated at about 25 thousand dollars –a much lower price relative to other guided weapons systems, that can easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a bomb,” said an officer to the Air Force website.