US Military's GBU-54

The GBU 54 is an intelligent Military Bomb, of free fall and which is guided through laser, it is called LJDAM & Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition, this device has a weight of 225 kg and is manufactured by the North American multinational company Boeing in the city of Chicago.

This version of the GBU 54, consists of a low-cost kit, and has the function of making a pump called dumb, the free-fall, in a smart pump guided with absolute precision, and this is achieved through a system that is equipped in its tail section, with inertial navigation, is linked to a GPS system.

The black tip of the bomb located in the front part has a laser locator, the precision that is achieved with this technology in a circular form, is established in more or less 13 meters, and can be launched up to 24 kilometers, achieving updates of its GPS system during its trajectory, to achieve target in the objective that is programmed either fixed or mobile.

The GBU 54 bomb was developed by placing the laser searcher to the GPS guided model that consisted of another bomb known as the GBU 38 of the same weight, the damage to the areas surrounding the target has been reduced to a minimum, this is because the warhead used a Mk 82 of 225 kg is combined with the attack capacity with the precision of the dual mode guide system.

General features of the GBU 54

• It is an air-surface guided type assembly
• Length 3.88 m, 3.77 m, and 3.04 m in its three versions
• Throwing weight 924 kg, 959 kg and 459 kg
• Width 0.64 m, 0.50 m
• Range 28 km
• 14,000 m ceiling
• GPS INS guidance system
• Cost per unit Approximately $22,000 per glue kit
• Deployed in 1999

Aircraft from which the GBU 54 can be launched

• A4 Skyhawk
• AV8B Harrier II
• A10 Thunderbolt
• AMX- International
• Lancer B1B
• B2A Spirit
• B52H Stratofortress
• F15E Strike
•  F16
• CF18 Hornet
• FA18A
• F22 Raptor
• F35 Lightning
• Mitsubishi F2
• Panavia-Tornado
•  Mirage
• Saab-JAS39 A
• A29 Super Tucano
• KAI-FA50

Facts about GBU 54

• These Military Bomb were first acquired by the Department of Defense in 1998
• In 2000 a considerable amount of these kits were sold to the Republic of Israel
• At the end of 2004 the Boeing company reached 100,000 kits delivered.
• Because of Pentagon revelations they have been used in selective types of attacks against the Islamic State in Erbil, Iraq
• The Air Force by mid-2008 ordered the use of the GBU 54 in the global war against terrorism in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
• During 2008 Germany became the first country in the world other than the United States to acquire the GBU54
• Boeing achieved the requirements in March 2010 for this device to be chosen as a bomb to be used for attacking mobile targets
• By the end of 2012, Boeing received a $22.7 million contract to begin modifying sensors on some 2,300 of these pumps and to incorporate the lasers
• With the participation in the last wars where the US Armed Forces have been involved, the GBU 54 bombs have shown their precision and reliability when launched from aircraft at any height and in any weather situation.

Written by: Rosa Castellanos