“The FAB-1500 is hell”
Report: Russia gains advantage with aircraft bombs
March 10, 2024, 7:31 p.m
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According to a media report, the Russian armed forces are increasingly relying on the FAB-1500 gliding bomb. This can be dropped by fighter jets from enormous distances – and is therefore out of reach of Ukrainian air defenses.
According to a US media report, Russia’s army has gained tactical advantages by increasing the use of guided aircraft bombs on the fronts in Ukraine. As the US news channel CNN reported, Ukraine has hardly any defense options against the FAB-1500 glide bomb. The bomb, which weighs almost 1.5 tons, consists almost half of explosives. It can be dropped on its targets by aircraft from a distance of 60 to 70 kilometers, beyond the reach of Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses.
Small wings allow the bomb to hit its target relatively accurately. The impact creates a 15 meter wide crater. Speaking to CNN, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat confirmed that the increased use of these glide bombs was most recently registered in the fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. “Within 24 hours, 250 of them were deployed,” he said. Russia is converting its old bombs to the new, controlled type in a factory near Moscow. “This isn’t a cheap or quick conversion, but it still costs less than the millions for a rocket,” Ihnat said.
This gives Russian forces “strong firepower that they can apply to fixed defenses, increasing Ukrainian casualties,” said Justin Bronk of the Royal United Services Institute for Security and Defense Studies in London. However, this is currently not enough “to fundamentally change the front lines”.
A Ukrainian soldier from the front-line town of Krasnohorivka reported the use of the weapon last week: “Before, we were only shelled with artillery. Now the Orcs (Russians) have attacked the city more aggressively (and) started to use air force assets, especially the FAB -1500.” Anyone who survives the use of the weapon is guaranteed to suffer an injury, the soldier told CNN. “That puts a lot of pressure on the morale of the soldiers. Not all of our people can endure that. They’re more or less used to the FAB-500 now, but the FAB-1500 is hell.”