French Ministry of Defense is expecting to receive 1,200 AASM Hammer long-range attack bombs in 2025, signifying a planned increase in production compared to 2024. The officials also confirmed that 600 bombs of this type will be delivered to Ukraine by the end of 2024, in line with the announcements made this January.
The update is sourced from a transcript of parliamentary hearings in France on the 2025 defense budget planning.
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Considering the AASM Hammer production rates announced earlier, receiving 1,200 units next year means roughly a 10% increase in manufacturing speed or volume since June 2024, when Safran CEO Olivier Andriès said 90 munitions were produced monthly, i.e. 1,080 units annually as of mid-2024.
With Safran cranking up the assembly lines, Ukraine can count not only on continued supply of these munitions through 2025 at the rate of 60 per month but also a potential growth of batches.
Before we start evaluating whether 1,000+ bombs per year is a lot or not, we should recall how many AASM Hammers France was making previously. Based on the framework agreement for contracts concluded in the 2000s to early 2010s period, we can estimate that only about 2,350 to 3,400 units were produced overall.
The numbers are especially illustrative if we recall that russia used 900 long-range guided bombs in just one week in October, as reported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on October 13.
For a reminder, AASM Hammer is a name that refers to an equipment kit to convert primitive free-falling bombs like Mk82 (250 kg ) and Mk 84 (1000 kg) into smart precision-guided ones. The kit comprises flight control surfaces, a rocket booster in the tail, and navigation systems in the head of the bomb — including inertial, satellite, and optional semi-active laser guidance.
When dropped from a high altitude, the attack range of this bomb is more than 70 km but shrinks down to around 40 km when launched from low-altitude nose-up maneuver — the one often used by Ukrainian pilots to hide from enemy radars. The range in this firing mode makes it comparable to the American JDAM-ER. It has been reported, however, that Safran is developing versions with a significantly boosted range: up to 150 or 200 km.
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