Russia has started mass-producing “high-damage” glide bombs capable of destroying a multi-storey building with one hit.
FAB-1500-M54 bombs weigh 1.5 tons and carry 1,500Ib of explosives, a payload nearly five times the size of Russia’s current arsenal of glide bombs.
Russian military bloggers this week posted three videos of FAB-1500 bombs destroying multi-storey buildings in Ukrainian-held towns near the front lines in Donbas.
In the videos, the bombs speed into the frame at an angle before striking the buildings and exploding into fireballs. In one film, a building collapses after being hit.
“Epic footage of a FAB-1500 direct hit on a target in Krasnogorovka,” said the Iron Helmets Russian war propaganda channel.
Russia has focused on boosting its arsenal of weapons over the past 18 months, ramping up production at its factories and signing supply deals for drones, missiles and artillery shells with North Korea and Iran.
Glide bombs are conventional bombs retrofitted with pop-out wings and a guidance system that turns them into “smart” bombs. They are dropped by fighter jets up to 25 miles away from their target, rather than overhead, and have improved accuracy and faster speeds.
They are also more difficult to shoot down than conventional missiles and drones because they are in the air for only a short time.
John Foreman, Britain’s former military attaché in Moscow, said that Russia’s extensive use of glide bombs showed its innovation and adaptation on the battlefield. “They’re very effective in terms of price and explosive effect and Ukraine has difficulty in defending against them.”
