LJDAM is a GPS/INS -guided, autonomous, all-weather attack weapon for use against fixed as well as moving ground and maritime targets.
It is a joint USAF-Navy development that combines a laser guidance kit with the GPS/INS-based navigation of the existing GBU-38 JDAM. Laser JDAM made its combat debut in Iraq in August 2008. The initial LJDAM was a dual-mode, 500-lb guided weapon capable of attacking moving targets with precision using a semi-active laser guidance set.
It was developed as an urgent operational need, and testing was completed in less than 17 months. The 500-lb variant was delivered in May 2008 and deployed in combat in Iraq three months later.
Boeing more recently developed the GBU-56 (2,000-lb) variant, which uses a similar semi-active laser guidance set. A Navy F-35C conducted the first simultaneous release of two externally carried GBU-54s as part of ongoing integration on all three variants of the Lightning II in early 2024.
GBU-54 LJDAM Technical Data
Contractor: Boeing.
First Flight: 2005.
IOC: 2008.
Active Variants: •GBU-54 Laser JDAM. Laser/GPS/INS guided 500-lb GP, or BLU-111 penetrating weapon. •GBU-56 Laser JDAM. Laser/GPS/INS guided 2,000-lb GP, or BLU-109 penetrating weapon.
Dimensions: Length (with JDAM and warhead) approx 8 ft.
Performance: Range up to 15 miles.
Guidance: GPS/INS with laser.
Warhead: Mk 82 500-lb munition.
Integration: F-15E, F-16. Planned: F-35, B-1B (GBU-56).
