The announcement that testing of GBU-38 JDAM guided-bombs delivered using the American hunter-killer MQ-9 Reaper UAV got underway this month is a reminder that drone warfare is getting much cheaper and far more precise. At US$20,000 each, the GBU-38 costs just a fraction of the $110,000 AGM-114 Hellfire missile which the MQ-9 currently delivers, with the additional strength that it can be used in inclement weather. Continue reading
Category Archives: Weapons Systems
Electromagnetic Power Boost for US Air Force Electronic Weapons
The US Air Force is working with Raytheon to integrate high power electromagnetic (HPEM) capabilities with cyber and electronic warfare weapons systems to increase the effectiveness of EW weapons through higher energy pulses and the use of new methods of backdoor penetration. Continue reading
Textron Successfully Tests Fury Against Moving Targets
Textron Systems Weapon & Sensor Systems announced the successful testing of the Fury lightweight precision guided glide munition against moving targets at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. This test marks a significant milestone, as it marks the completion of the Fury weapon’s development. Continue reading
Reaper Drops GPS Guided Joint Direct Attack Munition
Airmen from the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing and the 26th Weapons Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., made history earlier this week, by employing the first GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition from an MQ-9 Reaper. Continue reading
Turkey’s Anka Undergoes Weapons Trials
Turkey has conducted test firings of domestically manufactured weapons from its Anka unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Defence Industries Undersecretariat (SSM) announced account on 28 April. Continue reading
MOAB – Actual Footage from Afghanistan plus Analysis
A GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb strikes ISIS-K cave and tunnel systems in the Achin district of the Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan at 7:32 p.m. local time Thursday. Continue reading
Navy Gun Shoots So Fast There is No Bang – Just Brrrrr
Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) perform a close in weapon system live fire exercise. Bataan is underway in preparation for a scheduled upcoming deployment. Continue reading
New Drone-Launched Precision Bomb Used in Syria ?
Viper Strike
In one sense the death of Abu al-Khayr al-Masri is no mystery. The Pentagon has acknowledged that it carried out a drone strike near Idlib in Syria which killed Al-Masri, who was described as “a core al-Qaida leader” on February 4. However, this was very different to the usual attacks carried out by unmanned aircraft. Continue reading