Russian precision strike in Belgorod: Ukrainian defenses falter
Ukrainian electronic warfare systems are not operating in the Belgorod region, which allows Russia to execute precise attacks, reports the Ukrainian agency Unian. In one such attack, the Russian army used an ODAB-500P bomb.
Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, which effectively disrupt the navigation signals of Russian bombs, are not functioning in the Belgorod region. According to Unian, due to this, a Russian fighter jet recently carried out a precise attack on a dam near Popovka, where Ukrainian forces are conducting offensive operations.
ODAB-500P bomb fell on Russian territory
In one of these attacks in the Russian Belgorod region, the Russians deployed an ODAB-500P bomb. This type of ammunition disperses a flammable aerosol and then ignites it. David Axe, an analyst at Forbes, notes that using this bomb to destroy a dam is unusual because its thermobaric effect is more damaging to people than to infrastructure.
It is noteworthy that the Russian ODAB-500P bomb essentially landed on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, the intended target of the attack was Ukrainian troops located near the dam. The use of this specific ammunition, as reported by Unian, may suggest that the Russians did not intend to damage the infrastructure but rather to inflict casualties on personnel. Unfortunately, Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, which protect against such bombs, did not function near Belgorod, permitting a precise hit.
ODAB-500P bomb
To clarify, the ODAB-500P is an improvement on the ODAB-500, a Soviet fuel-air bomb introduced in the 1970s. Inside the ODAB-500, which weighs about 880 pounds, there is nearly 220 pounds of ethylene oxide. However, this basic version of the ammunition is characterized by very low reliability. For this reason, the ODAB-500 was replaced with the newer generation ODAB-500P.
The variant with the "P" designation contains just under 330 pounds of piperylene and has seven charges of solid explosive material within its body. The explosion of these charges creates a fuel-air cloud, whose detonation is initiated by an additional detonator. The liquid explosive material allows the ODAB-500P to achieve an impact effectiveness three times greater than that of a conventional bomb weighing 1,100 pounds (which is typical for the ODAB-500P).
