(Dan Tri) – `Climb high, turn sharply` is a particularly effective tactic of the Russian Air Force when using guided glide bombs in the Ukrainian battlefield.
Su-34 multi-purpose fighter bomber (Photo: Russian Air Force).
The Russian Aerospace Forces (abbreviated as the Russian Air Force or Russian VKS) are increasing guided glide bomb attacks on Ukrainian army positions on the front lines.
The Russian Air Force’s massive use of guided glide bombs was recognized by Western media and highly appreciated both technical and tactical developments.
Russia’s first glide bomb was initially unguided and had low accuracy.
The reason for the lack of accuracy was because the bomb lacked a guidance system. The Russians at that time could only install gliders to let the bomb fly farther, but did not have a guidance module (UMPK).
The main tactic when the Russian Air Force uses glide bombs is as follows: fighter planes fly low and stick to the terrain, then quickly climb up to about 9,000m, drop bombs and then turn sharply, leaving a white streak in the sky.
The fact that Russian fighter jets used the tactic of suddenly climbing high not only helped the bombs fly farther, but also made it impossible for Ukrainian air defense missiles to react in time or, if they did, it would be difficult to reach them because by then the target was already in reach.
The incident of 3 Russian Su-34s being shot down in a few minutes at the end of last year – according to Ukrainian media – does not seem to have any impact on this tactic, because we see the Russian Air Force still bombing every day almost everywhere.
As explained above, the first glider bomb models of the Russian Procuracy had a set of folding wings, enough for the bomb to fly about 60km away.
Later, Russian glide bombs added an inertial guidance system, which can guide when the bomb leaves the launch rack.
Su-34 multi-purpose fighter bomber of the Russian Air Force (Photo: The Drive).
From June to July 2023, Ukrainian sources reported that the Russian Procuracy had begun installing electronic countermeasures systems on glide bombs using MPC/UMPK modules on the battlefield.
According to experts, although the technological content of glide bombs is not too high, their main advantage is the element of surprise.
At the same time, Ukrainian targets have been subjected to massive and sustained bombing, up to several weeks in a row this summer.
Even when a 500kg bomb explodes anywhere within a 200m radius of you, it `feels` quite powerful, experts describe the bomb’s power when detonated.
The Russian Air Force not only used bombs with low destructive power, but they carried out high-precision airstrikes on Ukrainian targets in Kherson with heavy guided glide bombs FAB-1500M54.
The video recording the FAB-1500M54 bombing was posted on Telegram by famous Russian blogger Ilya Tumanov, also known as FighterBomber.
The above blogger’s post mentioned that the Su-34 crew used FAB-1500M54 guided glide bombs to attack Ukrainian targets.
`The Su-34 crew sends greetings towards Kherson with the support of the FAB-1500M54 UMPC glide bomb,` the message accompanying the video said.
The FAB-1500 heavy bomb contains about 700kg of explosives, with a guidance module (UMPC), which can help pilots drop bombs with an accuracy of 5m above the target and an affected area larger than 2km2.
Each Russian Su-34 multi-purpose fighter bomber is capable of carrying 2 such bombs (and in the future 4) that can cause great damage in one sortie.
Glide bombs are commonly used by Russia to bomb Ukrainian targets (Photo: The Drive).
The New York Times newspaper quoted Ukrainian military officials as saying that Russian glide bombs are effectively attacking Ukrainian positions, even penetrating underground bunkers and posing a significant threat to the military.
Olexandr Solon’ko, a Ukrainian soldier, expressed concern when frankly saying, `gliding bombs are one of the biggest fears of the Ukrainian army`.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph in May 2023, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yury Ignat admitted that it was impossible to intercept glide bombs and that this weapon posed `a very serious threat. Sometimes we have