Likely Ukrainian MiG-29 Drops JDAM kit-Equipped Test Bomb: Russian Media

A Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter dropped GPS-guided bombs in eastern Ukraine’s Kurdyumovka, Russian media claimed.

Kurdyumovka is close to Artyomovsk located on the Kiev-controlled part of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), where fierce fighting for the city is underway.

The U.S. confirmed transferring Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) precision-guided bombs, which can hit targets at up to 72 km away, to Ukraine recently. But it not say what platforms the Ukrainians are using to deliver these weapons.

"These are air-launched bombs. Originally, they were made for NATO aircraft. Ukraine has no such aircraft. We believe that this could have been a combat test with a non-standard carrier. This can apply, in particular, to MiG-29 multirole fighters," Yan Gagin, military-political expert and adviser to the acting DPR head, told TASS on Friday.

Ukraine employs MiG-29s to fire HARM anti-radiation missiles.

Standard JDAM kits are designed to convert free-falling “dumb bombs” weighing between 226-900kg into all-weather precision-guided munitions. The complete JDAM kit consists of a new tail, which contains a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) guidance system, and strakes that go elsewhere along the bomb body giving it a limited ability to glide to its designated target.

A typical JDAM can, depending on the altitude at which it is released, hit targets up to 25km away. The JDAM-ER's addition of the wing kit extends the weapon's range to some 70km.

With JDAM-ER, Ukraine could do with its MiG-29, Su-27 and Su-24 aircraft what Russia does with its Tu-95 and Tu-160 heavy bombers.