Russia’s cheap and plentiful Soviet-era bombs retrofitted with microelectronics have wreaked havoc in Ukraine’s border towns and villages, leaving President Volodymyr Zelensky ’s forces with little opportunity to fight back. Glide bombs are “general purpose bombs” that have been “repurposed into what Western countries define as “precision-guided munitions” by the installation of an add-on unified gliding and correction module,” says Federico Borsari, the Leonardo Fellow in Transatlantic Defence and Security at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) based in Washington, DC. This module is a metal box that houses a guidance unit based on satellite navigation, and wings that flip out shortly after the weapon is released by an aircraft.
It allows the bomb to glide towards pre-loaded geographical co-ordinates and strike its target at high speed. The navigation system is resistant to being jammed and the bombs have a small radar signature, making them difficult to detect and intercept. Microelectronics for the navigation system are produced by JSC Tactical Missile Corporation based in Russia, but Mr Borsari said it’s “highly possible” that some of the components come from both Western countries and China “as already shown by other weapons used by Russia, such as missiles”.
They are typically launched from aircraft – such as Su-34s or heavier Tu-22M3 bombers – which can given them a range of up to 49 miles (80km). Mr Borsari said they have bee.
