French to supply additional 600 precision-guided bombs to Ukraine by the end of the year

The Defence Committee of the French National Assembly said that 600 AASM units would be taken from warehouses.

Here's What We Know

France plans to produce 1,200 AASM Hammer guided bombs in 2025, while the country's defence industry was supposed to produce 600 of these adjusted bombs in 2024.

In Ukraine, these bombs have already been integrated into Soviet MiG-29 fighters, and their use on F-16s is also envisaged.

During combat operations in Ukraine, AASM Hammer bombs are dropped at relatively low altitudes, after which the aircraft quickly descends to avoid detection by enemy radars and reduce the risk of fire.

The AASM is equipped with a high-precision guidance system, including GPS and an inertial system, which allows it to perform tasks according to pre-recorded coordinates and ensures autonomous flight.

A special feature of these bombs is a rocket engine that significantly increases the range of destruction: from 15 km when dropped from low altitudes to 70 km when launched from high altitudes. AASM is an upgrade kit for conventional free-fall bombs.

The AASM upgrade kit consists of a front end with a guidance system and flaps and a rear end with an accelerator to increase the range. The French Army has two types of these kits: Hammer-250 for the 227-kilogram Mark 82 aerial bomb and Hammer-1000 for the 908-kilogram Mark 84.

Source: Committee of Defence