The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of $373 million worth of glide bomb tail kits and other equipment to Ukraine that will be used on the frontline in the war with Russia.
Kyiv has been given the green light to buy 1,532 Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) guidance tail kits. In a May 5 statement, the State Department said the principal contractor would be Boeing’s defense, space, and security wing, based in St. Louis, Missouri.
The kits convert unguided free-fall munitions—sometimes known as dumb bombs—into smart bombs that can hit their targets even in bad weather.
The JDAMs will be used by Ukraine’s fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, but they could also be fitted to Kyiv’s Russian-made Sukhoi Su-27 and MiG-29 jets….