Russia started using a new bomb in 2024 in Ukraine and it is devastating

There have been many challenges for Ukraine this year and one of the biggest is when Russia began using  a new bomb that devastated defensive positions all across the frontlines. Here’s everything you need to know about this new weapon and why it's proving to be a major problem for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

Moscow has upgraded an older Soviet-era glide bomb into a deadly new one that can create a fifteen-meter or nearly fifty-foot wide crater according to CNN. The bomb is Moscow’s FAB-1500 and it's a powerful new tool. 

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Photo Credit: Twitter @UKikaski

The FAB-1500 weighs 1.5 tonnes and half of the bomb is composed of high-explosive, but that isn’t what makes it such a dangerous weapon. The glide is delivered for the air, which makes it difficult to counter. 

Fighter jets can fire their payload at a distance of up to 70 kilometers or roughly 43 miles and fly away long before Ukraine's air defenses can target them. The distance is out of range for much of Kyiv's air defenses. 

The new glide bomb is just one example of how Moscow is fighting the war in Ukraine, inflicting what CNN said was “massive damage” before sending in its troops to try and capture more territory from Ukraine.

It’s important to note the FAB-1500 is the largest in a series of Soviet-era bombs and it has been upgraded with new guidance kits, which have turned the older weapon into a devastating precision-guided bomb. 

The upgrade kits and modifications have added pop-out wings which allow the bomb to slowly glide towards its intended target according to Newsweek. But upgrade kits have added a powerful guidance system. 

Joseph Trevitnick of The War Zone wrote about the bombs in January that they offered “a new and far more destructive stand-off strike option for many of Russia's tactical jets that also help pilots stay further away from enemy defenses.”

Newesweek reported that what really makes the upgraded FAB-1500 so worrying is its accuracy. One expert told the news agency the bomb was having a “significant impact” on Ukraine's defense in Donetsk. 

The devastation that can be caused by Russia’s upgraded glide weapons has been on display since Moscow began using them in March. Videos have been circulating on social media showing their immense power. 

CNN reported that FAB-1500 glide bombs have been used to hit targets such as thermal power plants, factories, and tower blocks—all of which the news outlet said were areas where Ukraine coordinated its defense. 

"The current version has an accuracy of better than 10 meters, which pretty much guarantees destruction with a weapon as big as the FAB-1500," explained military expert David Hambling Newsweek.

Photo Credit: Twitter @UKikaski

"Such weapons also have a significant morale effect, and the tremendous explosions are seen and heard over a wide area," Hambling added. The weapon is also having a major impact on Ukrainian morale. 

One soldier from Ukraine’s 46th Separate Airborne Brigade told CNN that damage that was being done by the FAB-1500 was “very real” and added that “if you survive, you are guaranteed to have a contusion.”

“It puts a lot of pressure on soldiers’ morale. Not all of our guys can withstand it. While they are more or less used to the FAB-500 by now, but the FAB-1500 is h**l,” the soldier went on to say about the glide bomb. 

How this new weapon will change the frontlines is still not fully known, but it is certainly a powerful new weapon that could have a significant impact as Ukraine moves into one of the most dangerous periods of the war so far. 

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