Ukraine battles Russian glide bombs in desperate defense of Pokrovsk

Ukrainians fighting to hold onto Pokrovsk must contend not only with the Russians' numerical advantage but also with deadly glide bombs. Fortunately, the quality of these bombs leaves much to be desired, and some are defective. We explain why they pose such a tremendous threat.

After losing Avdiivka and experiencing a collapse of defenses around the town of Ocheretyne, the Ukrainians managed to halt the Russians before they reached Pokrovsk. Unfortunately, due to the massive use of guided FAB bombs with UMPK modules, the Russians made significant progress in this direction.

The tactic is elementary: it involves disregarding losses and sending assault groups to a given area to activate Ukrainian defenses. Then, several hundred-pound bombs are dropped on these resistance points, and the tactic is repeated until success. For this reason, such attacks have gained the name "meat assaults."

Below, you can see a picture of a 1,100-pound FAB bomb that penetrated several walls of a building occupied by Ukrainians somewhere in Pokrovsk but did not explode. They were fortunate compared to many other Ukrainian soldiers whom these bombs have killed.

These bombs, along with ballistic missiles, are a huge problem for Ukraine because the Russians can use them to destroy even the heaviest Ukrainian fortifications. The base for this weapon is old aerial bombs dating back to World War II, to which satellite and inertial navigation modules, along with folding wings, were added, similar to American JDAM-ER bombs.

For the Russians, this module is called UMPK (Unified Module Set for Planning and Correction), and it can be used in FAB-500 bombs, FAB-1500, and the powerful FAB-3000.

The designations indicate the bomb's weight, so FAB-500 means a 1,100-pound bomb containing up to 660 pounds of TNT. The rest of the weight comprises a cast steel shell that generates fragments upon explosion and a simple impact fuze.

The main problem for the Ukrainians is that Russian aircraft can drop such bombs from over 25 miles away, making them out of reach for short-range anti-aircraft systems. Additionally, destroying bombs already in flight is difficult due to their speed and very thick casing. Fragments of ordinary anti-aircraft missiles are too weak, and perhaps a system like the Gepard or Skynex loaded with armor-piercing ammunition would be helpful.

However, deploying such systems at every trench is unfeasible, so the best method is to shoot down Russian aircraft before they drop the bombs from a distance, e.g., 60 miles. This is possible with medium-range systems like the Patriot, SAMP/T, or S-300, for which Ukraine no longer has missiles or its own air force.

Ukraine has not received the necessary number of such systems or aircraft from Western countries, and what they do have protects critical infrastructure while the frontline regions are lacking.