And the laser-guided bombs were expensive—around $100,000 apiece. JDAMs are guided by Global Positioning Satellites. The pilot punches the target's coordinates into the bomb's GPS receiver andthe bomb homes in on the spot; environmental conditions aren't a factor. And they're cheap—a JDAM kit can be strapped onto an old-fashioned "dumb bomb" for $18,000.fr
However, it turns out that of the 19,948 smart munitions fired during Gulf War II, 8,716—two-fifths—were the '90s-era laser-guided bombs. Substantially fewer, 6,642, were JDAMs. The other 4,590 smart weapons were GPS-guided but much more expensive models than the JDAM.
More surprising, another 9,251 bombs—or one-third of all the bombs dropped during this war—were unguided, unmodified dumb bombs. It would be good to know where these dumb bombs—and the less-reliable laser-guided bombs—were dropped: on the battlefield, in cities? In other words, was "collateral damage" a greater problem than our vision of a JDAM-dominating war suggested?
why'd you say the F-16 can't do A/G accurately?Originally posted by Shotgun:Dropped on Close Air Support sorties i Suppose.
Good ol Mark 82/84s are pretty good at making the enemy duck for cover. With FAC asset in the area, eg, OA-10s, them unguided bombs can be pretty effective at breaking the enemy's position. Besides, most of the aircraft can do A2G roles with unguided bombs pretty accurately, with exception of the F-16 that is. Then again, its not THAT bad either...