India to adopt JDAM ER for Tejas
A series of Boeing JDAMs is seen here aboard a USN aircraft carrier before being loaded onto aircraft. (USN)
India will buy JDAM ER bomb kits from the US for the first time.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will receive around 250 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Extended Range (ER) precision-guided bombing kits compatible with the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
Procurement of the 910kg JDAM variant – which can attack targets 80km distant, compared to 25km for the older version – will occur under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. Eventually, orders could extend to a few thousand JDAM ERs.
The IAF has 123 LCAs on order. With FMS buys being more expensive, India could have been given a sweeter deal given that US transactions under FMS in 2021 were
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