The United States may supply Ukraine with AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) medium-range glide munition for F-16 fighter jets as part of an upcoming $375 million military aid package, Politico reported on September 20.
The JSOW, which is in service with the U.S. Air Force and Navy and a number of allies, has a range of 22-130 kilometers depending on flight profile.
The glide munition is guided by a GPS-aided inertial navigation system. The latest AGM-154C version also features a terminal Infrared seeking. Politico didn’t clarify however if Ukraine will be getting this more precise version.
The base version of the munition, AGM-154A, is armed with a cluster warhead containing 145 BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomb submunitions, while the AGM-154B version carries six BLU-108 submunitions, each containing four further smart Skeet warheads, and the AGM-154C version is armed with a Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge, BROACH, multi-stage warhead.
The upcoming military aid package for Ukraine, which is still being finalized, will also include artillery munitions, rockets and air defense missiles, two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the issue told Politico. The sources noted that the contents could still change before the official announcement is made.
The JSOW does not have the reach of the Storm Shadow/Scalp-EG air-launched cruise missile Ukraine received from the United Kingdom and France, or the German Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missiles it has long coveted. It is also not as capable as the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) air-launched cruise missiles the Kiev regime demanded for its F-16s.
Still, the glide munition could boost the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force to attack Russian targets from a stand-off range.
The effectiveness of the munition will however be very limited by the Russian military’s dense air defenses and advanced electronic warfare means, which proven to be highly capable against very similar Western-made weapon systems in the past.
Ukraine received the first batch of F-16s just last July. Ten such fighter jets were reportedly delivered to the country. At least one of the jets has been already destroyed.
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what did you expect especially since russia seems to like to allow ukraine to have functioning bases and aircraft to operate
the us can arm my colon with a medium range cock!
heheheh…
me too! yaaas!
there is no self control within these circles, ukrainians with atlantacist cartel. they are suicidal and homicidal at the same time. fool me once shame on you, fool me twice…///