Ukraine Has Invented Its Own Precision Glide Bomb

Every day, Russian warplanes lob as many as a hundred KAB glide bombs at Ukrainian troops and cities. The 25-mile-range bombs, some as heavy as three tons, are among the most devastating weapons in Russia’s 30-month wider war on Ukraine—and a crucial factor in Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine this year.

Now Ukraine is preparing to fight back—with its own glide bombs. A recent video shot by the crew of a Ukrainian air force Sukhoi Su-27 fighter depicts an air force Sukhoi Su-24 bomber carrying a prototype gliding munition under its wing.

Not content to lob American-made JDAM-ER and French-made Hammer glide bombs, the Ukrainians clearly intend to arm their jets with locally made bombs, as well. Air force brigadier general Serhii Holubotsov announced back in June that the service was developing a new glide and guidance kit to transform Soviet-vintage unguided bombs into precision munitions. The test flight on that Su-24 was an important step in the new weapon’s development.

With its wings and tail-mounted rocket booster, the presumably GPS-guided bomb looks a lot like a Hammer. It’s possible the Ukrainians actually copied the French weapon. A quick boost from a solid-fueled rocket is how a 550-pound Hammer ranges as far as 40 miles.

The Ukrainian air force obviously is happy with the Hammer’s range and precision; it’s obviously unhappy with the supply of the bomb. France pledged to provide just 50 Hammers a month—far too few to match the roughly 3,000 KABs the Russians drop all along the 700-mile front line every month, even after taking into account the JDAM-ERs Ukraine gets from the United States.

If Ukraine can establish local production of the new bomb, it might begin to catch up to Russia’s own glide-bombing campaign. The new bomb would join a growing portfolio of made-in-Ukraine munitions that includes the Neptune cruise missile, the new Palianytsia “missile drone” and a host of one-way attack drones—including at least two models of pilotless sport plane that can fly a thousand miles with an explosive payload.

In building its own precision munitions, Ukraine frees itself from total reliance on fickle allies for key military capabilities. Local production is also a way for Ukraine to circumvent its allies’ restrictions on how and where Ukrainian forces can use foreign-made munitions. Most critically, the Americans prohibit the Ukrainians from firing U.S.-supplied precision ballistic missiles at targets inside Russia—targets that include the air bases supporting the Russian glide bombers.

That’s the idea. But it’ll remain that—an idea—until the air force fully tests the new bomb and factories tool up to build the weapon. The Ukrainian air force has armed several warplane types with American and French glide bombs, including Su-24s, Su-27s and Mikoyan MiG-29s. All three types could eventually carry the new Ukrainian bomb.