Navy tests long-range JDAM, striking out to 200 nautical miles

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The US Navy revealed that it has completed inaugural tests of a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) modified with a turbojet engine for greater range, which the service said flew roughly 200 nautical miles — five times the next-longest JDAM variant’s range.

The tests, conducted earlier this month off the coast of California, “demonstrated the weapon’s safe separation; the ability to use existing aircraft interfaces; and controlled, powered free-flight and navigation” according to a Navy press release published Monday.

Results from flight testing of the new JDAM — a dummy bomb equipped with a precision kit manufactured by Boeing — show a dramatic range boost for the munition. The JDAM’s current “extended range” variant can fly “greater than 40 nautical miles,” according to a Boeing fact sheet. The extended range variant functions as a glide bomb. 

“This new capability allows pilots to engage targets from significantly safer distances, maintaining a tactical advantage in contested environments,” Capt. Sarah Abbott, program manager for precision strike weapons, said in the Navy’s release. 

The engine-boosted JDAMs, dubbed the GBU-75, were released from a Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet, where the first flight test on April 1 featured a roughly 200 nautical mile journey for the weapon. The Navy described the munition as “maintaining consistent guidance directly to its target” in both tests; a release from Boeing Monday said the first one “landed within meters of its planned target.”

A second test on April 3 “successfully incorporat[ed] altitude changes and weapon maneuvering during an otherwise similar flight,” according to the Boeing release. The company claims the new “long range” JDAM boasts a range “greater than 300 nautical miles.” 

Boeing said the JDAM LR used a TDI-J85 turbojet engine manufactured by Kratos. Modifying the relatively low-cost JDAM with the powerplant aims to offer a lower-cost standoff munition with an effective payload, a Boeing spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

“The goal is to keep the cost on the low end of the spectrum compared to other low-cost cruise missile systems,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, the payload on JDAM LR [Long Range] means fewer munitions to achieve the same effect. JDAM LR is a 1,000-pound weapon system that carries a 500-pound-class warhead, while many other low-cost effectors carry warheads under 100 pounds.” 

The Navy’s release says that the successful flight tests have paved the way to “the next phase of qualification,” where there is an “emphasis on shipboard integration.”