Russia is deploying a new weapon on the battlefield - UPAB-1500B.
It is essentially a Glide Bomb with a range of around 30 miles or about 50 km.
Instead of relying on rockets or jet engines, gliding bombs use wings to navigate toward
their intended target. These munitions are often released from aircraft and leverage aerodynamic
lift to improve their range and precision. Gliding bombs may come in guided or unguided forms,
and can be equipped with various warheads, including high-explosive or bunker busters.
As per reports, it had been used in Chernihiv Oblast recently.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why Russian UPAB-1500B is a complex challenge for Ukraine?
Let’s get started.
The UPAB-1500B is a Russian-made precision-guided bomb designed
to carry out precision attacks using the GLONASS GPS channel.
The guided bomb was first unveiled at a Russian arms expo in 2019.
Since then it has been tested many times and has now made it to the battlefield.
It is designed to destroy hardened targets such as bunkers, command posts, and underground
facilities and carries a 1,010 kg or 2,225 lbs concrete-piercing high-explosive payload.
With the capability to inflict substantial harm on infrastructure and military bases,
the UPAB-1500B stands out as a particularly potent weapon.
The UPAB-1500B bomb is dropped by a Su-34 Fullback or Su-24 Fencer bomber aircraft at
an altitude of approximately 45,000 feet, 30 miles or 50 km away from the target.
Its trajectory can be modified in-flight.
It is thought to have an accuracy of 10m CEP.
While details are limited, UPAB-1500B seems similar to JDAM or Joint Direct
Attack Munition used by the United States.
Russia claims that this system cannot be shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces.
Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that the Russians
may begin regularly attacking Ukraine with this 1.5-ton bomb.
He noted that the enemy published information that the head of the Ministry of Defense of
the Russian Federation, Serhiy Shoigu, inspected one of the defense factories
and talked about the production line for 2023 with plans to manufacture the bomb.
Ignat said, “We need assets that can counter and shoot down carriers. These are Patriot systems,
SAMP-T, modern F-16 aircraft or other generation 4+ aircraft”,
indicating that Ukraine has limited means to counter this weapon currently.
UPAB-1500B is a pretty big bomb in size and it is not powered by its own propulsion.
Technically it can be tracked throughout its entire flight and can potentially be shot down
But not all important assets in Ukraine are protected by Air defense systems which
leaves a lot of room for this kind of weapon to wreak havoc.
Secondly, the UPAB-1500B can be released out of the range of Ukraine's short-range
air defense systems, it is to be noted that most of the medium-range S-300s
are either destroyed or deployed far behind the line of contact.
Thirdly, this kind of weapon would be much cheap to produce compared to stand-off missiles like
Iskander M or Kh-22. This means Russia will be able to produce it in much larger quantities,
essentially overwhelming the defensive systems.
Last but not the least, using a costly system like Patriot systems,
SAMP-T to neutralize this kind of Glide Bomb would not be sustainable in the long term.
The most efficient way for Ukraine to counter this
challenge will to be take out the launch platform like Su-34.
It remains to be seen how the Ukrainian military responds to this new threat.