Ukraine S: Russia deploying Soviet-era bombs to elude Ukraine’s modern defences

As Kyiv gears up for a much-anticipated counteroffensive, Ukrainian officials, independent analysts and American military officials say the Russians are increasing their use of Soviet-era bombs. Although they have limitations, the weapons, they said, are proving harder to shoot down than the fastest, most modern missiles that the Ukrainians have become adept at intercepting. These weapons don’t have propulsion systems like cruise missiles or stay in the air nearly as long as drones. The bombs are aloft for only 70 seconds or less and are much more difficult for Ukraine’s air defences to track. They are little dots on radar screens that soon disappear after being dropped, the officials said, adding the Russians have retrofitted some of the bombs with satellite navigation systems and wings that stretch their range, turning an old-fashioned weapon into a more modern glide bomb.
The Russians are deploying these glide bombs from Su-34 and Su-35 jets, their top-of the-line warplanes, said a US defence official. Zooming over Russian-controlled territory, the warplanes release the bombs, which glide 20 miles or more, crossing the frontline and then striking Ukrainian territory. These bombs are even harder to hit than the hypersonic Kinzhal missiles that the Ukrainians claim to have destroyed recently with American Patriot air defense systems. “A Kinzhal has a longer flight time at high altitudes, so it’s easier to detect,” said expert Ian Williams. “Glide bomb were not a weapon that the Patriot system was designed to counter.