Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Elbit Systems are creating an analogue of the American Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, which allows to turn a conventional free-falling aerial bomb into a high-precision one.
The decision to develop it was made by the country's government after Israel in May 2024 faced a partial US refusal to supply certain types of ammunition due to their use by the IDF during the operation in the Gaza Strip.
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According to the European Security & Defense publication, which spoke with unnamed sources in the Israeli defense industry, serial production of a locally produced analogue of JDAM should begin in the summer of 2027. In addition to this kit, other high-precision air-to-ground weapons are also in development.
But in general, the decision on sovereign development is viewed by Israel as a change in fundamental position. Because, as the publication quotes the official as saying, "It was very convenient to source these bombs from the U.S. But the circumstances have changed."
From the Defense Express side, we note that the United States supplied Israel with more than 50,000 tons of ammunition and weapons from October 2023 to August 2024. The total amount of aid amounted to $ 13.4 billion.
The list included, in particular, 14,000 Mk-84 bombs, 6,500 aerial bombs weighing 250 kg, 2,600 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, as well as 1,000 unnamed anti-bunker bombs. However, this may not be all, as in 2025 the Pentagon admitted that it "improperly tracked" the ammunition supplied to Israel.
It should be noted that Israel is already mass-producing precision bombs. For example, Rafael has been producing Spice kits, which have a semi-active laser guidance system, since the 2000s
Munitions equipped with such kits have also been used to strike. In particular, there is a well-known episode of the use of Spice 2000 (for a 1000 kg air bomb) to strike a high-rise building in the suburbs of Beirut, under which, according to the IDF, Hezbollah facilities were located. As a result of the precise strike, this high-rise building simply collapsed.
Let us recall that the main advantage of JDAM is its rather moderate cost, which, depending on the version and delivery conditions, ranges from 25 to 84 thousand dollars.
Let us recall that in 2024 Air Force of Ukraine for the first time showed the detailed use of jdam-er and revealed its actual range.
As Defense Express reported, New JDAM LR was tested, allowing conventional aerial bomb to be "thrown" over more than 500 km.
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