French AASM 1000 to become operational by the end of 2024

French AASM Hammer 2000-pound (925 kg) precision-guided bombs will be fully operational by end of 2024.

This is reported by Military Zone.

AASM precision-guided bombs are manufactured by Safran Electronics & Defense under the name Hammer and consist of a guidance kit and a rocket motor to increase range, which are mounted on conventional free-fall bombs. They are mostly used on 500 lb (227 kg) bombs.

However, in 2017, the French Armaments Agency awarded Safran Electronics & Defense a contract worth 85 million euros to adapt AASM kits to 925 kg bombs, including the Mk84 high-explosive fragmentation bomb and the BLU109 concrete-piercing bomb.

In December 2020, the agency announced the qualification of the AASM 1000 equipped with a combined satellite and inertial guidance system.

However, the AASM 1000 still had to undergo a series of experiments to determine the procedures and conditions of its use. These tests were carried out at the Air Expertise Center (CEAM) in Mont-de-Marsan.

In particular, the “aging” bombs from repeated flights without launches, and the effect of this “aging” on their performance.

«We chose challenging shooting conditions to explore the limits of application. As well as military-style bomb cases to add to the realism of this full-scale test. We decided to test the range and divergence angle limits to gather feedback during these two fire passes. As expected, the launch of such heavy weapons is very noticeable in the cockpit. In fact, we mainly feel the engines firing, in addition to the aircraft rolling a few degrees», – explains one of the test pilots.

According to the publication, these tests are close to completion, and the full operational capability of the AASM 1000 will be announced by the end of 2024.

AASM Bombs

Development of the high-precision AASM kit began in the early 1990s, following the unsuccessful debut of French strike aircraft in the 1991 Gulf War. This was primarily due to the vulnerability of aircraft to enemy anti-aircraft missile systems.

The kit has three types of guidance: SBU-38 Hammer with a combined satellite and inertial guidance system, SBU-54 Hammer, which additionally has a thermal imaging homing head, and SBU-64 Hammer with additional laser guidance.

Thanks to a small rocket engine, the bombs have a range of use from low altitudes up to 15 km, and up to 70 km when launched from a high altitude.

Ukrainian Air Force is using these aerial bombs in caliber 227 kg starting from the beginning of 2024. The first publicly known use occurred during the battles for Avdiivka, at the beginning of March 2024.