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)
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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