The United States Department of Defense announced critical new security assistance for Ukraine on April 19, 2023. The capabilities in this package include ammunition for HIMARS, artillery rounds, TOW missiles, anti-tank mines, and precision aerial munitions (specifically, the JDAM-ER, which was also included in the previous package announced on December 21, 2022, along with Patriot SAM systems).
At the end of December 2022, The New York Times published an article on how the Ukrainian Air Force could adapt Soviet aircraft for the American JDAM-ER. The media claimed that Ukraine would receive a basic JDAM, based on the Mark 80 series bomb, but not an adapted version. American specialists started to suggest solutions.
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In late February 2023, reports indicated that JDAM-ERs had been transferred to Ukraine and that they had a range of 70 km.
The first reports that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were allegedly using “smart bombs” against russians appeared in Western media at the beginning of March 2023, as reported by the commander of the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa, James Hecker. It was also mentioned that Ukrainian pilots were dropping JDAM bombs on russians in dive-bombing mode.
The first formal announcement from the Ukrainian Air Force appeared in early April 2023, but the technology of using “smart bombs” of this type remains a secret.
However, it should be noted that Defense Express had already reported in one of its publications at the end of February 2023 on how JDAM-ERs can be safely used by aircraft against russia in dive-bombing mode.
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