Ukrainian fighters learned to drop NATO-style glide bombs, surprises await Russians

Russian aviation drops about 3,000 glide bombs on Ukrainian positions and civilian settlements every month. Satellite-guided bombs have a range of more than 60 km. This means that Russian Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 fighter-bombers can fire their bombs beyond the range of almost all Ukrainian air defenses, except some Western systems.
According to Forbes, KAB glide bombs weighing 500 and 1000 kg are “miracle weapons” for the Russians, noted the Ukrainian analytical group Deep State. Ukrainians have “virtually no resistance.”
"Ukrainian forces may not be able to defend against Russian glide bombs. But they can strike - with their own glide bombs," the publication writes.
To this end, the Ukrainian air force is converting its 40 or 50 surviving MiG-29 fighters and perhaps dozens of Su-27 fighters into precision glide bombers, armed with American short-range bombs.
This is an important development as the tiny Ukrainian air force tries to match the crushing glide bombing campaign of the much larger Russian air force, which has hundreds of Su-30s, Su-34s and Su-35s with four or even six KABs on each mission.
“This is fantastic news,” wrote Finnish analyst Joni Askola.
The bad news is that Ukraine probably cannot acquire enough Small Diameter Bombs or other munitions to continue the missions of its MiGs and Sukhoi.
No one outside the Pentagon and the Ukrainian Air Force knew that the Ukrainians had 130-kilogram Small Diameter Bombs that operate at a range of 110 km under satellite guidance on retractable wings until photos showing MiG-s surfaced online late last month. 29 with six miniature bombs under the wings.
Ukrainian MiGs were already capable of carrying glide munitions. Last year, American, French and Ukrainian technicians worked together to arm Ukrainian MiG-29s and Su-27s with the American Joint Direct Attack Munition Extended Range glide bomb and the French-made Armement Air-Sol Modulaire glide bomb. JDAM-ER and AASM weigh about 225 kg.
Small Diameter Bombs have the advantage of being smaller and also boasting a longer range than JDAM-ER and AASM, both of which reach approximately 65 km under the best conditions. A single MiG or Su armed with an Small Diameter Bombs could hit six targets in one sortie, and do so from a great distance, thereby reducing the risk from Russian air defenses. Equally important, Small Diameter Bomb costs only $40,000 per bomb.

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