New Very Long Range Russian Glide Bombs Place Ukrainian Rear Lines Within Reach

The Russian Aerospace Forces have begun to utilise at least one type of very long range glide bomb for strikes on Ukrainain targets, which are reportedly a game changer for the ability of aviation assets to launch low cost mass strikes on targets far deeper behind the frontlines. Commenting on the new weapon’s impact, deputy head of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence Vadim Skibitsky stated that a new type of Russian bomb had demonstrated a range of 193 kilometres, stressing that this could fundamentally alter the dynamics on the frontlines. Prior glide bombs which began to be widely utilised from 2023 had previously been restricted to ranges of around 80 kilometres or less, which repressed the result of a series of incremental improvements to increase their ranges. The first unified gliding and correction modules allowed bombs to travel 40-50 kilometres when dropped from altitudes of 10-12,000 meters, before this range was later increased to 80 kilometres.

The new type of bomb referred to by Skibitsky appears to be a recently unveiled design with a rocket engine, which according to Russian sources can reach targets up to 150 kilometres away. These engines reportedly allow glide bombs to be adapted for tactical aviation use without significantly slowing production rates. Despite having a range comparable to many types of air launched missiles, they reportedly cost only a fraction as much. Russian state media has projected that such bombs “would enable systematic carpet bombing and precision strikes, effectively erasing the notion of a ‘safe rear’ area for Ukraine.” This is also expected to allow the bombs to provide a less costly and more readily available alternative to assets such as ballistic missiles and air-launched drones for various strike operations. New types of precision guided glide bomb have continued to be introduced into service since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, with an example being the UMPB D-30SN that began deliveries in August 2024.

The Russian defence sector has not only significantly increased production of glide bombs, but also of Su-34 strike fighters that are the primary workhorses responsible for launching them. The Su-34’s scale of production has more than doubled since early 2022 to an estimated 30 per year, with the aircraft having a range and weapons carrying capacity unmatched by any other fighter in the world. Ukrainian Army frontline personnel speaking to various Western media outlets have widely singled out the effects of mass glide bomb attacks, stressing that such attacks using bombs with up to 500 kilograms of explosives were obliterating their underground bunkers. One serviceman compared their impact to “hell’s gates,” stressing that the Russian Aerospace Forces “would send them two by two by two, eight in an hour… It sounds like a jet coming down on you.”

Increases to both the reach and the intensity of Russian bomber attacks is expected to exacerbate the already immense extreme rates suffered by the Ukrainain Army, which had in several cases approached 80-90 percent. The Wall Street Journal has been among the sources to report that the Ukrainian Army has relied on recruiting poor men from villages and sending them to the frontlines with just two days of training. The life expectancy for personnel on high intensity frontiers has at timesbeen as lowas just four hours, according to reports from Western observers on the ground. The casualty rates seen have been a primary factor forcing desertion rates to particularly high levels, according to reports rom the Financial Times among other sources. In April 2023 Ukrainian ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadim Pristaiko revealed that Kiev was concealing the full number of casualties suffered in the war, stating that “it has been our policy from the start not to discuss our losses,” but that “when the war is over, we will acknowledge this. I think it will be a horrible number.”