Glide bomb
A glide bomb is a conventional "dumb bomb" or "gravity bomb" with attached wings that make the bomb glide farther from its original aerial drop point.
Contents
FAB 500 specifications
The arsenal consists of 50 kg FAB-50 to the FAB-500, the FAB-2000, FAB-3000, FAB-5000, and the monstrous FAB-9000,[1] which features a conventional explosive charge of about 4,300 kg of TNT – about half the blast yield caused by the W54 – the world’s smallest tactical nuclear bomb.
The FAB 500 can travel up to 100 km, can be fired from behind Russian defensives lines, while the aircraft delivery vehicle is not exposed to enemy air defense systems.[2] The FAB-1500s can reportedly be launched up to 50 km from the target and up to 10 km up, and be carried both by strategic bombers, like the Tupolev Tu-95 and the Tupolev Tu-160, and by tactical strike jets like the Sukhoi Su-27 and Sukhoi Su-34.
The FAB-500 has a cost of US $3,200 apiece, with the addition of the UMPK guidance kit adding 30 to 50 percent to the cost, compared with the American equivalent by weight Tomahawk cruise missile with a cost of US $720,000.[3]
The FAB-3000 is a 3,000 kg weapon or 6,300 lbs.[4] It differs from the others in the FAB series as it evidently includes a small rocket booster in order to extend the range of the weapon and uses a somewhat sophisticated type of GPS guidance. Reports indicate it has a range between 80 km to 100 km (roughly between 50 to 62 miles), assuming the launch is from high altitude.
NATO war in Ukraine
- See also: NATO war in Ukraine
During the Special Military Operation on the territory of Ukraine in the 2020s, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation converted thousands of conventional 500kg, 1000kg, and 1500kg gravity bombs from an enormous stockpile built up since the 1960s, with a "glide kit", attaching wings that unfold after being dropped and adding a precision guidance system in a nose kit.[5] The Russian modified glide bombs have an advantage over Western cruise missiles, in that none of its weight is wasted on carrying an expensive engine and fuel, they carry a very large warhead, and are relatively cheap in comparison to Western cruise missiles. They have been called the Russian counterpart of the US JDAM, only much less expensive.[6]
Various versions of the Russian glide bomb were used to devastating effect in the NATO war in Ukraine.[7]
The appearance of an upgraded UMPK kit made a qualitatively different leap in the destruction of Ukrainian Armed Forces targets from the air. The UMPK PD ( increased range ) is a larger wing area, making the gliding range increase by approximately 25-30%. Instead of 50-60 kilometres (for FAB-500), the range increased to 78-85 kilometres.
Thanks to Alexander Stanislavovich Syrsky, most of the air defense systems, including self-propelled S-300P/PS and numerous Buks, were destroyed near the front line.
In 2024, reports indicate the Russian Armed Forces used 44,000 glide bombs in Ukraine.[8]
US Paveway IV
The US made Raytheon Paveway IV is a converted 1950s Mk82 dumb bomb with an over-engineered, expensive glide kit, 90 kg of explosives and a range of only 30 km, making delivery by an F-16 a suicide mission in the face of Russian S-300 air defense systems. The Paveway IV was deployed by NATO to Ukraine in April, 2024.
History
The FAB-1500 was first introduced in 1954, and comes packed with 675 kg of TNT – enough to level a fortification or bunker and leave a crater up to 20 meters deep, smash through up to three meters of reinforced concrete, and cause destruction across an area up to 500 meters.
References
- ↑ The last thing Ukrainians hear is the sound of it falling from the sky | Elephant Bomb FAB-9000
- ↑ https://kyivindependent.com/russias-smart-bombs-pose-increasingly-serious-threat-to-ukraine/
- ↑ History of the Russian UMPK Glide Bomb, Apr 01, 2024.
- ↑ https://t.me/wartimedia/100157
- ↑ Evolution of UMPK, colonelcassad. December 16, 2023. colonelcassad.livejournal.com
- ↑ https://westobserver.com/news/europe/russian-glide-bomb-compared-to-american-jdam/
- ↑ Renaissance of the Bomb - Gliding FABs Russian Glide Bombs - a true menace, MIKE MIHAJLOVIC, MAR 10, 2024. bmanalysis.substack.com
- ↑ The Ukrainian Purgatory, Österreichs Bundesheer, February 21, 2024. YouTube.
External link
- Why Russia’s Glide Bombs are Almost Impossible for Ukraine to Stop, Daily Mail, May 9, 2024. YouTube.
- Battlefield Ukraine New Russian Glide Bomb, Military and Foreign Affairs Network, May 24, 2024. YouTube
- FAB-3000 & Accuracy, Brian Berletic, July 8, 2024. YouTube
- Russian FABS interrupt Al-Nusra (HTS) party in west Aleppo
