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Ukraine using secret weapon to shoot down Russia’s killer glide bombs
Ukraine has deployed a new “experimental” weapon which it claims has destroyed a Russian glide bomb mid-flight.
The nation’s air force did not given details of the munition but it is understood to have been used on 6 February to destroy a Russian guided aerial bomb (KAB) over Zaporizhzhia.
Although “experimental” it is not Ukraine’s first attempt to deploy it.
Yuriy Ihnat, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said: “This is not the first time that such an air attack vehicle has been shot down.”
He pointed out that Ukrainian forces are up against a variety of Russian guided aerial bombs, which can have different warheads.
These are being dropped from bombers without needing to enter the Ukrainian air defense zone.
“To effectively counter this threat, a comprehensive approach is needed – both the use of ground-based air defense assets and the air component to drive out Russian aircraft carrying these bombs as far as possible,” the spokesperson added.
Andriy Tsaplienko, a military correspondent, was the first to report preliminary information suggesting “an experimental weapon” was now in use.
He wrote on Telegram that for the first time Ukrainian defenders managed to shoot down a guided aerial bomb (KAB), citing sources in the Ukrainian Defense Forces, on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.
The interception caused the bomb to crash on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.
The Air Force has remained tight-lipped around the specific method used but analysis by Defense Express claims a potential system could be the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun, which has a range of 2.5km.
The publication stated: “We can only note that the use of anti-aircraft artillery for such purposes can indeed be considered a pragmatic solution for point defense, because the effectiveness of its fire.”
Aviation channel Soniashnyk backed this theory, suggesting Ukrainian forces have successfully adapted this Soviet-era weapon.
The glide bombs being used by the Russian air force can be dropped from a great height, out of reach of Ukrainian air defences.
They are equipped with wings, which means they can glide to their targets, and are hard to shoot down because they don’t have a heat profile as they don’t have their own rocket engines.
Air defence systems tend to track incoming missiles by their heat trail.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Russia used 39,950 guided aerial bombs of various types against it in 2024.
And Zaporizhzhya, around 18 miles from the front line, has repeatedly come under attack from glide bombs as the weapon can be fired from a greater distance, away from air defences.
Three people were also killed in a Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy on Friday.
The attack, on Thursday night, used three guided aerial bombs and destroyed a residential building in the village of Myropillya, according to the Prosecutor General’s office.
Russian troops are understood to use several types of guided aircraft bombs, most commonly the aFAB-2500 and FAB-500, which are capable of demolishing a building.
They can be used from a distance of more than 30 miles and are usually dropped from Su-34 bombers.
This apparent breakthrough with the “experimental” weapon comes as Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky offered to do a deal with the US over Ukraine’s stores of rare earth and minerals.
The US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would probably meet Zelensky next week to discuss Ukraine’s war to repel Russian invaders.
Earlier in the week, he said he wanted Ukraine to supply the US with resources in exchange for continued financial support for the war against Russia.
He said he wanted to talk to Zelensky about security for Ukraine assets such as rare earth minerals and wants “an equal amount of something” in exchange for US support.
“We would like them to equalize”, he said.
Zelensky told Reuters: “If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it.”
Rare earth minerals are important in the manufacture of high-performance magnets, electric motors and consumer electronics.
Zelensky said Moscow could open those resources to its allies North Korea and Iran, if Putin’s invasion is not stopped.
He said: “We need to stop Putin and protect what we have – a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine.”
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