Ukraine is developing weapons to counter a growing Russian threat

Ukraine has a major problem emerging on the battlefield but it is coming up with a new solution to solve the issue according to a statement from Volodymyr Zelensky. So what is this problem? Let’s take a look. 

Russia is using aerial guided bombs to strike Ukrainian positions and the new weapons are making a difference on the frontlines. Some reports suggest that Russia’s new glide bombs could be a game changer. 

Moscow has retrofitted older Soviet-era bombs with modern flight kits that have pop-out wings and statuette navigation. This effectively turns older dumb bombs into a powerful weapon according to Financial Times. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0

“The experience of the past months and weeks shows that the enemy has significantly increased aircraft activity, using guided air bombs that destroy our positions,” Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky in March.  

Commonly referred to as glide bombs, these devasting weapons can carry a variety of payload sizes ranging from the smaller 500 kg (1100 lbs) to the larger 1.5 tonnes. They can also carry that load for 60 km (37 mi). 

One soldier serving on the eastern front was quoted by the Financial Times as reporting that Russia’s glide bombs were “very scary” and “very lethal, adding that they could rip doors off their hinges far away from the drop site. 

Russian glide bombs have been employed against Ukrainian soldiers a lot according to the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who told the Financial Times they are “routinely attacked by guided aerial bombs that wipe out our positions.”

Moscow has dropped as many as 3,500 glide bombs on frontline and rear positions in 2024 alone based on reports from Ukrainian defense officials, which the Financial Times noted was a 16-fold increase from 2023. 

“They are very simple in essence, so you cannot jam them, you cannot hide from them — the only way to protect yourself from them is to shoot down the bomber that carries this bomb,” explained Kuleba.

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Vitaly V. Kuzmin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Shooting the bombers carrying glide bombs is exactly what Ukraine has been doing to try and stop Russian attacks and the country is working on other solutions to solve the problem according to Volodymyr Zelensky.

During a telethon interview with United News, Zelensky revealed the current situation Ukraine was facing when it came to Russian glide bombs and said that the country’s ability to shoot down Russian bombers forced Russia to change tactics. 

“So far, the Defense Forces have been using only air defense systems against Russian aircraft carrying guided aerial bombs. Their effective use has forced the enemy to launch aerial bombs from a greater distance," Zelensky said according to Ukrianiform. 

"We must increase the number of long-range anti-aircraft defense systems. I emphasize that Russia is afraid of this," Zelensky continued, adding that the arrival of F-16 fighter jets would improve the situation but not entirely. 

Ukrainska Pravda reported that Zelesnky said that the F-16s promised to Ukraine by the West were only about 10% of what the country needed, which is why Kyis was working on developing weapons that could counter the glide bomb threat. 

“We are developing another weapon against the KABs (glide bombs), a domestic one, but I won't say what it is, if I may,” Zelensky said. But while no details were provided, it can be assumed this weapon will target the planes carrying the bombs. 

However, not all war analysts think Ukriane’s F-16s will help alleviate the damage being done by Russian glide bombs and Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute told The Independent they’re unlikely to help. 

“The fighters and strike fighters lofting the glide bombs are doing so at release distances many tens of kilometers behind the Russian front lines, meaning F-16 pilots would need to get far too close to Russian ground-based SAM threats to reliably engage them,” Bronk explained. 

“Even then, they would need to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to acquire and fire on a Russian jet just as it started to climb for a lofting release,” Bronk added. So maybe the weapon Ukraine is working on will prove to be a better counter to Russian glide bomb attacks.

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