Trevor Ball & N.R. Jenzen-Jones Editor’s Note: This blog post is linked to entries in the Open-source Munitions Portal (OSMP), a joint project between ARES and Airwars, available at https://osmp.ngo/. OSMP Entry Nos. 456, 496, 497, 498, 618, 619, 620, 623, 625, 688, 689, 690, 695, 723, 728, 735, 751, etc. An Introduction to the MK 80
N.R. Jenzen-Jones & Trevor Ball Editor’s Note: This blog post is linked to entries in the Open-source Munitions Portal (OSMP), a joint project between ARES and Airwars, available at https://osmp.ngo/. The use of the Small Diameter Bomb (known in U.S. service and elsewhere as the GBU-39) is increasingly being reported upon in the context of
N.R. Jenzen-Jones Update 21 April 2018: Information released today by US Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) indicates that standard JASSM cruise missiles were used in the strikes, not the JASSM-ER as previously reported by the Pentagon. A spokesman also noted that F-22 Raptors took part in the operation, presumably flying counter-air. A good summary has been posted at The Aviationist.
Yuri Lyamin with N.R. Jenzen-Jones Images posted to Facebook and Twitter in mid-to-late February 2016 show the presence of PTAB-1M anti-tank submunitions and the RBK-500 PTAB-1M air-delivered cargo munition (cluster bomb) in the al-Ghanto area of the Homs governorate of Syria. The remnants of the bomb’s tail and casing indicate it is an RBK-500 (Razovaya Bombovaya
