Russia is increasingly using glide bombs in its offensive in Ukraine, BBC reports. These inexpensive but extremely destructive weapons have already caused serious damage to Ukrainian infrastructure. In just one week, over 200 such bombs were used to shell Volchansk, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that around 3,000 of these bombs were dropped on the country in March.
Glide bombs are created by adding folding wings and satellite navigation to old Soviet munitions. According to British military expert Justin Bronk, these bombs consist of conventional free-fall iron bombs, of which Russia has hundreds of thousands left over from Soviet times. Equipped with deployable wings, they can glide long distances after release, and satellite navigation provides relatively high accuracy when targeting stationary objects.
Russia can accumulate these bombs in large quantities thanks to their simple production. Planning kits added to Soviet bombs are mass-produced and have a simple design, making the cost of one such munition relatively low, around $20,000-30,000.
Despite their affordability, glide bombs are extremely destructive. They are capable of turning well-fortified Ukrainian positions into vulnerable targets, creating powerful explosions that can lead to collapses and casualties even in fortified positions. These explosions have a serious impact on the human body, making such munitions particularly dangerous.
Intercepting such bombs in mid-flight appears to be an unlikely solution due to their large numbers. Ukraine’s air defense system may quickly deplete its ammunition trying to deal with these threats, adding additional difficulties to the country’s defense.
