Ukraine deploys powerful 1,000-pound bombs in airstrikes
Ukrainian aviation continues its operations against Russian forces, using guided bombs acquired from the West. Recently, they have showcased bombs that are twice as heavy as the previous ones. Here, we present their performance.
Ukraine currently has very limited aviation capabilities, as only a small portion of the fleet from before the war remains operational. Most strike missions are carried out by MiG-29 aircraft, which have been supplemented with units provided by Poland and Slovakia.
There are also a few Su-27 aircraft and a handful of F-16 planes. These, as seen in available recordings, are used primarily for airspace defense tasks.
In cockpit footage from a Su-27 below, a pair of JDAM-ER bombs are seen being dropped. While the use of these bombs is not new, the introduction of 1,000-pound bombs is noteworthy, as previous footage mainly showed 500-pound bombs. The utilization of a 1,000-pound bomb suggests the target was of significant importance.
JDAM-ER bombs - a simple modification for Cold War-era bombs
JDAM-ER bombs, which came into service with the U.S. Air Force in 2015, are an enhancement of earlier JDAM bomb models from the 1990s. The JDAM family of bombs is based on older unguided bombs, specifically the Mk 82/83/84, weighing 500 lbs, 1,000 lbs, and 2,000 lbs, respectively. NATO countries possess hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of these bombs.
The production process involves equipping these bombs with a module containing advanced GPS and INS navigation and a section with control elements and folding wings in the ER version.
Thanks to this modification, a glide bomb is created that can accurately hit a target within a few yards from over 40 miles away, provided it is dropped from a high altitude. In short, the higher and faster the bomb is dropped, the farther it can fly.
JDAM bombs — massive destructive power at a low cost
The speed of these bombs makes them exceptionally difficult targets for air defense systems to intercept. The Russians employ a similar approach, using FAB bombs with UMPK (Unified Modules for Planning and Correction) modules when attacking Ukrainian targets.
Apart from their low production cost (since the bomb itself is nearly free, with costs mainly for the module), one advantage of JDAM/-ER bombs is their significant destructive power. The 500-pound variant contains 192 lbs of TNT, while the 1,000-pound model includes 441 lbs of explosives. Additionally, the heavier bomb penetrates the ground or field fortifications more effectively, and its greater destructive power compensates for any loss of precision due to the effect of Russian jammers.
