JDAM makes debut on A-10C Thunderbolt - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

JDAM makes debut on A-10C Thunderbolt

Fielding of the laser-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions reached a milestone this month when the bomb debuted on a Thunderbolt.

Maj. Matthew Domsalla, with the 40th Flight Test Squadron, piloted the A-10C out of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on Nov. 5. “The Laser JDAM provides the pilot the ability to update the targeting if the target moves while the weapon is in flight,” he said in an Air Force release.

The bomb is essentially a 500-pound version of the satellite-guided JDAM with a laser seeker attached to the warhead. A pilot can release the bomb using Global Positioning System coordinates to guide the bomb and then switch in mid-flight to the laser guidance system if that increases accuracy. The Laser JDAM is already approved for use by F-15E Strike Eagles.

The next step integrating the Laser JDAM into the A-10C’s arsenal is operational testing to develop tactics and techniques for using the bomb.

The goal is make the Laser JDAM available to deployed A-10Cs by early 2009.