A video released at the weekend on the unofficial Telegram channel @UkrAirForce and reposted on X / Twitter shows a Ukrainian Su-24 (NATO: Fencer) variable-wing bomber carrying what appears to be a new type of air-launched guided munition. It seems likely that the video was filmed sometime in August.
The post said that the Su-24, with the bort number “White 09,” belongs to Ukraine’s 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade and that the footage was shot from a Su-27UB (NATO: Flanker-C) twin seater fighter-interceptor from the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade.
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The munition itself appears to consist of a three-part kit attached to an aerial “dumb bomb” to convert it into a precision-guided weapon.
It is made up of a cruciform finned tail section with an opening that suggests it includes a secondary turbojet or rocket propulsion system. The mid body has a central “rib” along the top of the munition and metal bands around the circumference which are typical of a pop out wing mechanism on which the bomb would glide towards its target. The nose section would contain the guidance system which is probably a combined GPS and inertial system.
The fact that this munition visibly resembles the French Armement Air-Sol Modulaire Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (AASM Hammer) is probably no coincidence as the Ukraine Air Force has received a number of them and their US counterpart the Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER).
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, September 08, 2024
Pop-out wings would dramatically extend the range of an iron bomb the length of which, if unpowered, would depend on the launch altitude – a general rule being the higher the altitude the longer the range. Ukrainian aircraft fly as low as possible to try to avoid Russian air defenses before “popping up” to toss bomb their munitions. The addition of a propulsion system would allow the overall range to be increased even if the munition is released at low altitude.
Ukraine has developed and deployed the Palyanytsya jet-powered kamikaze drone the engine of which could be the bas element of the booster for this glide bomb.
The weapon was filmed being carried by a Su-24, which is the aircraft used to launch the Anglo-French Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missile, but it is not the only aircraft that could benefit from the glide bomb.
Ukraine’s MiG-29 (NATO: Fulcrum) and Su-27 (NATO: Flanker) multi-role fighters have generally been used to carry the Western-supplied JDAM-ER, Small Diameter Bomb, and AASM Hammer, as well as AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM). In the near future the F-16s could also be used as a launch platform for these and other munitions.
A Ukrainian air force spokesperson Brig. Gen. Serhii Holubotsov announced in June that Ukraine was in the process of developing its own guidance and range extension kit which would transform its Soviet-era unguided bombs into precision munitions. The test flight on the Su-24 seems to be an important step in the new weapon’s development.
During the Ramstein meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group of nations Sept. 6, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intimated that Ukraine was producing its own long-range weapons capable of striking targets within Russia. In doing so he said there was a critical need to help support and develop Ukraine’s domestic defense production with which he said Washington along with several US defense contractors were currently engaged.
This new glide bomb might be the latest domestic addition to Ukraine’s arsenal along with the Neptune cruise missile, the Palyanytsya jet-powered drone, and numerous other long-range strike UAV. If Ukraine is able to rapidly bring these bombs into mass production, it could redress the disparity Ukraine currently faces against Russia’s use of long-range aerial glide bombs.
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