JDAM 'hottest' smart bomb
2003-03-20 12:36
Washington - The satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is the hottest "smart" bomb in the US arsenal because it is cheap, accurate and can find its target in any weather.
It has been the weapon of choice of the US Air Force and Navy since the Nato air war against Yugoslavia in 1999.
So many were used in last year's Afghan campaign that the Pentagon stepped up production to replenish supplies ahead of any war against Iraq.
JDAMs are much cheaper at about $20 000 a copy than the laser-guided bombs that stunned the world during the 1991 Gulf War.
That means many more will be available than in the Gulf War, when precision weapons accounted for only about seven percent of bombs dropped. In Yugoslavia, the use of smart weapons rose to 30% of the total and in Afghanistan to 60%. Defence department officials say precision weapons will account for 70% of the bombs in Iraq.
Some experts caution that JDAMs are less accurate than laser guided weapons, and may not be optimal for bombing in heavily populated areas in and around Baghdad.
"They are most useful when you're fighting outside the cities, than inside the cities," said Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. "JDAM misses by 5 to 10m if it's not jammed, and by 30m if it is jammed."
JDAM, which comes in 900kg and 450kg variants, is essentially a dumb bomb with a tail kit that uses inertial navigation and signals from a GPS satellite to steer to the target.
The GPS guidance allows it to find its target through atmospheric conditions such as clouds or dust that can foil laser-guided weapons.
But JDAMs have had some spectacular misses.
A B-2 bomber blasted the Chinese embassy in Belgrade with JDAMs on May 7, 1999, killing three people.
The targetting error was blamed on outdated maps that showed the embassy in another part of town, not on the accuracy of the weapon.
In Afghanistan, a JDAM killed three US special forces troops and five Afghans during the siege of Kandahar after it was called in on a forward air controller own position on the ground because of a glitch.
The 38 people injured in that bombing included Hamid Karzai, who went on to become Afghanistan's president.
The bomb was delivered by a B-52 bomber, the giant aircraft built for strategic bombing not for close air support of ground troops.
But close air support is now a mission that can be carried out by any aircraft capable of delivering the JDAM, a Pentagon spokesman said.
The B-2, B-52, B-1, F-16 and F/A-18 are equipped to carry the bomb. The US military is looking to equip every other fighter and attack aircraft in its arsenal to deliver it.