GPS/inertial guidance tail kit for unguided bombs (Boeing)
Weapon system · United States · Weapon system
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a Boeing-made tail kit that bolts GPS and inertial guidance onto unguided bombs such as the 2,000-pound MK-84, turning them into all-weather guided weapons. The US Air Force paid an average of $21,000 per kit in FY2021, and Defense News put the range at $25,000 to $84,000 depending on order size when Boeing won a $7.5B production contract in May 2024. JDAMs are central to Israel's bombing of Gaza. Amnesty International found JDAM parts in two October 2023 strikes on family homes in Deir al-Balah that killed 43 civilians. Bellingcat documented MK-80 series bombs with JDAM kits in the July 2024 Khadija school strike and in the 2025 demolition of at least seven Gaza City high-rises after evacuation orders. In September 2026 Amnesty reported JDAM components at a Tehran strike site from the 2026 US-Israeli war on Iran, saying the strikes may amount to war crimes.
● confirmed by a primary document · ○ reported
two thousand one hundred sixty-six (2,166) GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs Increment 1 (SDB-I); two thousand eight hundred (2,800) MK 82 General Purpose, 500-pound bomb bodies; thirteen thousand (13,000) KMU-556E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for the MK-84 bomb body; three thousand four hundred seventy-five (3,475) KMU-557E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for the BLU-109 bomb body; one thousand four (1,004) KMU-572E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-38v1; and seventeen thousand four hundred seventy-five (17,475) FMU-152A/B fuzes. ... The estimated total cost is $6.75 billion. ... Deliveries are estimated to begin in 2025.
two thousand one hundred sixty-six (2,166) GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs Increment 1 (SDB-I); two thousand eight hundred (2,800) MK 82 General Purpose, 500-pound bomb bodies; thirteen thousand (13,000) KMU-556E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for the MK-84 bomb body; three thousand four hundred seventy-five (3,475) KMU-557E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for the BLU-109 bomb body; one thousand four (1,004) KMU-572E/B ... JDAM Guidance Kits for GBU-38v1; and seventeen thousand four hundred seventy-five (17,475) FMU-152A/B fuzes. ... The estimated total cost is $6.75 billion. ... Deliveries are estimated to begin in 2025.
The Boeing Co., doing business as Boeing Defense Space and Security, St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a $7,479,640,772 fixed-price-incentive-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract action for Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).
US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip ... On October 10, an air strike on the al-Najjar family home in Deir al-Balah killed 24 people. ... On October 22, an air strike on the Abu Mu'eileq family home in the same city killed 19 people.
the analysis recorded 79 geolocated incidents where remnants of these three models of US-made munitions were either found in the aftermath of a strike or were captured in visual imagery in the moments before impact. ... Khadija school in Deir Al Balah was targeted in three rounds of airstrikes on July 27, 2024 that used both GBU-39 bombs and MK-80 series bombs equipped with JDAM kits.
US-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) were used by the Israeli military in two deadly, unlawful air strikes on homes full of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip ... On October 10, an air strike on the al-Najjar family home in Deir al-Balah killed 24 people. ... On October 22, an air strike on the Abu Mu'eileq family home in the same city killed 19 people.
Bellingcat was able to identify that at least seven high-rise buildings in Gaza City, including Al Soussi Tower, Al Roya Tower, and Al Roya 2 Tower, were issued evacuation notices then destroyed using MK-80 series bombs with JDAM kits. ... the JDAM kit is one of several guidance kits that can attach to bombs like the MK-84 but which is only produced by the US.
No open stories name this weapon system right now.