US President Joe Biden has said he will transfer JSOW glide bombs “to enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities”. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
The United States is to send Raytheon RTX AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW) glide-bombs to Ukraine for use aboard its recently delivered Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft.
US President Joe Biden made the announcement on 26 September during a visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House.
“To enhance Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities, I have decided to provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon long-range munition,” President Biden said.
The baseline JSOW is a 1,000 lb-class glide-bomb with a maximum range of 116 km when released at high altitude and is already cleared for carriage on the F-16 of which Ukraine has received the first 10 of a pledged 79 jets (one was lost in late August).
The GPS/INS (inertial navigation system) and terminal imaging infrared-guided JSOW is available in four different variants – JSOW-A, JSOW-A1, JSOW-C, and JSOW-C1 – though it is not clear from Biden's announcement which is/are being transferred to Ukraine.
For more information on the JSOW, please see AGM-154 Joint Stand‐Off Weapon (JSOW) and JSOW-ER.
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