Russia has introduced a new weapon that has already been deployed on a large scale in Ukraine. This weapon has the potential to shift the balance in ongoing conflicts if our side continues to delay providing better weapons to our Ukrainian partners.
Known as Russia’s 1.5-ton “glide bomb,” this Soviet-era iron gravity bomb is dropped from planes at high altitudes. It is equipped with pop-out wings and satellite navigation technology, allowing for precise targeting of fixed Ukrainian positions at a cost-effective price. The devastating impact of these bombs results in targets turning into wide craters, making them a significant threat to Ukrainian cities, towns, and bunkers.
With a large stockpile of old gravity bombs from the Soviet era, Russia is quickly retrofitting them and developing more powerful variants, including 3.4-ton and cluster bomb versions. The production and use of Russian glide bombs, estimated to be over 100 per day, pose a significant threat to Ukrainian defenses along the entire front line.
Defending against glide bombs with expensive surface-to-air missiles is not a cost-effective solution for Ukraine. However, there are three main strategies that Ukraine can employ to more economically counter this weapon.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
