General-purpose bomb
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A general-purpose bomb is an air-dropped bomb intended as a compromise between blast damage, penetration, and fragmentation in explosive effect. They are designed to be effective against enemy troops,
American AN-M64 500-lb general-purpose bomb in Boeing B-29 Superfortress weapons bay
A 4000 lb GP bomb, 1943
A Mk 82 GP bomb loaded on an F/A-18 Hornet, showing nose fuze and textured thermal insulation
Guidance accessories for a 500 lb body and a Laser-Guided Training Round, bottom
Joint Direct Attack Munition
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The Joint Direct Attack Munition is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial
General-purpose bomb
…iron' bomb into a laser-guided bomb (like the U.S. Paveway series), an electro-optical guided bomb, or, more recently, GPS-guided weapon (like the U.S. JDAM). The combination is cheaper than a true guided missile (and can be more easily upgraded or replaced in service), but is substantially more accurate…
U.S. Navy sailors attach a JDAM kit aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64), March 2003.
Ex-Schenectady (LST-1185) damaged by seven 2,000-pound JDAMs during USAF exercise Resultant Fury in November 2004.
JDAMs prior to being loaded for operations over Iraq, 2003
GBU-38 explosions in Iraq in 2008.