What Are Glide Bombs? Russian Weapons in Ukraine Called 'Big Threat'

Russia has been increasing its air strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks, with many of these missions involving the use of what are known as "glide bombs."

Last month, Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, detailed how Russian forces flew 10 Su-35 aircraft over the Sumo region of Ukraine and dropped 11 glide bombs. The Kyiv Independent called the attack "devastating," while Ignat called the use of glide bombs 'an extremely big threat.'"

More recently, an incident that made international headlines involved a Russian jet accidentally dropping a bomb on the Russian city of Belgorod. Multiple buildings were damaged and at least three people were injured. The region's governor said a "huge" crater was left in the city center.

The Moscow Times reported the weapon dropped on Belgorod was a glide bomb. The outlet also said these types of bombs have become "an increasingly popular weapon in Russia's arsenal" and that some people believe the bombs possess "the power to change the course of events on the battlefield."

In simple terms, glide bombs are standard bombs that have been modified to include wings and navigation systems that allow for a gliding flight path to a target. Some glide bombs are given this design when they're first built but others are given these upgrades after production.

The "gliding" additions allow bombs to "travel much further" and render them "much more precise than unguided—or "dumb"—bombs," according to The Moscow Times.

The investigative news site spoke with Ukrainian military analyst Alexander Kovalenko, who said glide bombs are a "serious threat" in part because they are released by planes from outside the range of Ukraine's air defenses.

"They can be used by the Russian Armed Forces without entering the area of our air defense systems and strike both the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front line and the [nearby] cities," Kovalenko told the outlet.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian Ministries of Foreign Affairs for comment.

Another reported advantage of these weapons is that they are cheaper to produce than Russia's more advanced missiles, which some reports indicate are becoming depleted.

"Glide bombs are pretty ingenious, sci-fi weapons," Guy McCardle, managing editor of the Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek. "Since Russia lacks air superiority in Ukraine, they have to come up with some way to get bombs on target."

"The bottom line is that with these gliding munitions the Russians can put a lot of ordinance down-range with relatively little money and end up doing a lot of physical and psychological damage to their enemy," he said.

While Ignat estimated that Russian President Vladimir Putin's air units are releasing about 20 glide bombs per day, they are not the only ones deploying the weapons.

The United States has provided Ukraine with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) kits, which have been put into limited use. These GPS-powered kits are applied to conventional bombs to transform them into guided "smart" bombs.

On Tuesday, Ukraine used JDAM-equipped bombs to attack Russian positions in Bakhmut. Video of the strike has been shared online and shows the bombs destroying a multi-story building that quickly becomes engulfed in smoke.