Army of Drones/Facebook
- A video shows bombs being dropped on what appears to be a Russian military warehouse in Bakhmut.
- The JDAM-ER kits have been sent to Ukraine by the US in recent months.
- The kits transform unguided free-fall bombs into all-weather, precision-guided smart weapons.
A video appears to show Ukraine striking a Russian military warehouse in Bakhmut using US-made JDAM-ER technology.
The bomb kits, which transform unguided, free-fall bombs into precision-guided munitions, have been sent to Ukraine in recent months, per reports.
The video was shared on social media by the Army of Drones, a crowdfunding initiative part of Ukraine's government-run United24 platform, which claims to have raised $108 million and purchased 3,300 drones for the army, according to Forbes.
The aerial video shows four bombs hitting buildings that the Army of Drones described as Russian warehouses in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, where intense fighting has been raging for months.
The Twitter account Ukraine Weapons Tracker, which monitors videos and images of weapons used in the conflict, said the bombs appeared to be GBU-62, which describes Mk 64 Quickstrike naval mines combined with the extended-range Joint Direct Attack Munition kits.
The kits can be bolted to unguided bombs ranging from 500 to 2,000 pounds, and its pop-out wings allow it to glide up to 45 miles.
The account noted that this appears to be one of the first videos showing bombs equipped with JDAM-ERs in action in Ukraine.
US Air Force/1st Lt. Lindsey Heflin
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek that the building could have been used as Russian headquarters of some kind.
"The explosion is large and seemingly precise, indicating an air-delivered munition," Cancian said. "Apparently, the US has sent the extended-range version of JDAM. That would mean that the Ukrainian aircraft did not need to fly over the target."
Leaked Pentagon documents have previously revealed concerns that the bomb kits have been hindered by Russian signal jamming.
The documents were among the sensitive intelligence documents recently leaked on the internet and are now the subject of a federal investigation.