The Jerusalem Post reports Israel expects to reach mass production of a domestic
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) within two years. Under then-defense
minister Yoav Gallant and recommendations from the Turkel committee, Israel
began scaling up indigenous bomb production at end-2024. Israel has been highly
dependent on US supplies of such munitions, especially in crises; the Biden
administration partially froze some arms transfers in May 2024 over disagreement
about the IDF incursion into Rafah. The program, originally aimed at greater
autonomy for unguided bombs, accelerated and expanded in 2025–26 to include
production of JDAM-style smart bombs, which the report says will materially
change Israel’s operational capabilities.
