Guidance Kit for 1,000-Pound Bombs Adapted for Ukraine

Ukrainian aviation has become the first in the world to use 1,000-pound (454 kg) Mark 83 bombs adapted for the JDAM-ER guidance kit, The Aviationist reported.

Since 2023, Ukraine has been deploying 500-pound (227 kg) JDAM-ER bombs. The newly adapted 1,000-pound bombs may have been specifically modified for the Ukrainian Air Force.

The report is based on a video published by the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade, which shows a Ukrainian Su-27 dropping a pair of precision-guided bombs on Russian positions in a forested area.

Analyzing the footage, @Osinttechnical compared the size of the bombs mounted on the Su-27’s wings with known images of 500-pound bombs and determined that the new bombs are significantly larger.

Previously, JDAM-ER kits were known to be available for 500-pound GBU-62 and 2,000-pound GBU-64 bombs.

The JDAM-ER was developed in 2006-2008. At that time, Boeing and the Australian DSTO jointly developed and tested a set of wings for the 500-pound GBU-38/B JDAM. The resulting airframe GBU-62 JDAM-ER entered service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 2016.

Similarly, in 2009, Boeing and South Korea’s Times Aerospace Korea (TAK) developed a JDAM-ER wing kit for the GBU-31/B JDAM bomb weighing 2,000 pounds.

At the same time, the only confirmed military use of JDAM-ER kits in the U.S. Armed Forces is to equip some Quickstrike mines. The GBU-62(V)1/B and GBU-64(V)1/B correspond to the MK 62 500-pound and MK 64 2000-pound mines equipped with the JDAM-ER, respectively.

Neither Boeing nor the U.S. military mentioned the existence of a ready-made version of the JDAM-ER kit for 1000-pound bombs.

As a reminder, in May 2024, the United States ordered sensors for Ukraine that will enable American bombs equipped with JDAM-ER systems to defeat electronic warfare systems.

The Home-on GPS system should allow Ukrainian JAM-ERs to target EW systems that jam GPS.