Joint Direct Attack Munition

JDAM family

The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs" into all-weather "smart" bombs. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an inertial guidance system connected to a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.^[1] This gives them a range of up to 15 nautical miles (28 km). JDAM-equipped bombs range from 500 pounds (227 kg) to 2,000 pounds (907 kg).^[2] When installed on a bomb, the JDAM kit is given a GBU (Guided Bomb Unit) nomenclature which takes the place of the normal "dumb bomb" nomenclature to which it is attached. JDAM is a joint project of the United States Air Force and the United States Navy.^[3]

Joint Direct Attack Munition Media

U.S. Navy sailors attach a JDAM kit aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64), March 2003.
The first flight test of the first GPS-guided weapon resulted in a direct hit on a target at Eglin Air Force Base on 10 February 1993.
Ex-Schenectady (LST-1185) damaged by seven 2,000-pound JDAMs during USAF exercise Resultant Fury in November 2004.
JDAMs loaded under the left wing of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, with a LITENING II Targeting Pod visible beneath the fuselage
JDAMs prior to being loaded for operations over Iraq, 2003
GBU-38 explosions in Iraq in 2008.
A DSU-33 Airburst sensor (right)
Sgt. William McGregor, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11 Ordnance Marine removes the nose of a laser Joint Direct Attack Munition missile here May 17, 2012. Ordance Marines supply bombs and munitions to all three flying squadrons during Exercise Geiger Fury 2012.
JDAM-ER attached to a modified pylon under the wing of a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27
An inert JDAM Quickstrike Extended Range mine is attached to a U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress