JDAM, otherwise known as Joint Direct Attack Munition, is a guidance kit which turns unguided “dumb bombs” into GPS guided munitions.
Bombs which are equipped with JDAM are pecision-guided by an integrated inertial guidance system in conjunction with a GPS receiver.
This in turn increases their range to up to 28m.
The guidance system used by JDAM was jointly developed by the US Air Force and the US navy, giving the name ‘join’ within JDAM.
When this guidance system is installed onto a bomb, the kit is given a Guided Bomb Unit (GBU) nomenclature.
This supercedes the Mark 80 or BLU (Bomb, Live Unit) nomenclature of the bomb to which it is attached.
JDAM in itself is not a weapon, rather it requires a host to which it attaches to. It is merely a guidance kit that converts gravity bombs which are unguided into precision-guided munitions (PGMs).
The primary components of the system consist of
- Tail section with aerodynamic control surfaces
- Body strake kit
- Combined inertial guidance system and GPS guidance control unit
The JDAM kit was intended to improve upon laser-guided bomb and imaging infrared technology, which can be hindered by bad ground and weather conditions.
