The Israeli Air Force (IAF) used US-Made GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) in its recent attack on the Syrian city of Aleppo, a photo released by pro-government activists on March 28 reveals.
The photo shows the remains of one of the munitions which were used in the attack, that occurred in the late hours of March 27. The remains appear to be identical to the wings of the GBU-39 bomb.
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The GBU-39, that was first introduced by Boeing in 2006, is a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of 110km. The bomb uses an inertial navigation system (INS) and GPS to hit static targets with high accuracy. The light weight of the bomb [only 129kg] allows most warplanes to carry a pack of four on each hard point.
In April of last year, the IAF used the GBU-39 SDB to strike targets in the outskirt of the city of Aleppo. The bomb is apparently being used to strike targets deep inside Syria due to its small diameter, which makes it harder to detect by Syrian radars.
Despite its small diameter and long range, several SDBs were successfully intercepted by the Syrian Arab Air Defense Forces (SyAADF), according to pro-government sources.
