Igor Sushko / X
Ukraine has developed a new armor-piercing bomb for drones, capable of penetrating networks, metal cages and bunkers. On Russian social media, it is already described as an unanswered threat.
The effectiveness of Ukrainian drones in recent months is forcing Russian soldiers, and even Vladimir Putin himselfaccording to some sources, to take refuge underground.
Os FPV dronespiloted with first-person view, and bomber drones led Russia to build bunkers and cover roads and installations with screens, metal cages and steel mesh. It was the most reliable solution to protect themselves from attacks, but Ukraine has just made it ineffective.
published on Russian social networks show a new Ukrainian ammunition: a square bombequipped with a metal tip similar to those used to fix fence posts to the ground. A label on the device reveals its purpose: It is a “piercing weapon”.
Its lethality is such that Russian military bloggers have been warning about this threat for some time, and the military analyst David Hambling claims it is so effective that “there is no place to hide”.
According to , the new bomb is part of the arsenal of the so-called ““heavy multirotor drones”the Ukrainian fleet of bomber drones that includes models such as the , o Kazhan, o Heavy Shot eo Nemesis.
Russians group them under the generic name Baba Yagain a reference to the flying witch of Slavic folklore who wreaks havoc at night. The Vampire, for example, can carry around 15 kg explosive charge against targets up to 20 kilometers away.
Homemade piercing bomb
What distinguishes this bomb from adapted conventional munitions — anti-tank mines or reused mortar shells — are three characteristics essential: a aerodynamic warhead and reinforced to withstand the impact; one long and narrow shapewhich concentrates force in a minimum area; and a delay fuzewhich prevents detonation until the device penetrates the target.
A Ukrainian video shows the ammunition in action. The bomb lands next to a building and takes more than a second to detonate after impact. When it explodes, the underground deflagration is enough to collapse one of the sides of the structure.
💥 Ukraine’s new penetrator bomb appears to be highly effective with its delayed fuse.
— Igor Sushko (@igorsushko)
A metal tip is nothing more than a commercial stake 100 mm for posts, modified by hand in a workshop. The sheet metal is thicker than that of a typical hardware product, and the welds appear to have been done by hand.
An approximate calculation indicates that, when falling from a height of approximately 100 meters and with a weight of approximately 11 kg, the penetrator can cross approximately 30 cm of compacted earth or up to 120 cm of soft soil.
The roofs of Russian bunkers are usually constructed from logs. madeiramore resistant than concrete to shock waves, covered with at least 30 cm of earth, to absorb shrapnel and shock wave. The bomb pierces this layer of earth and can reach the spaces between the roof logs.
Most drone-dropped bombs have impact fuses, which detonate when touching any surfaceincluding the metal nets and cages used by the Russians for protection. With a delay fuze, the bomb only explodes after penetrating the target, which means that Russian passive defenses are no longer an effective solution.
The first information about this ammunition began to circulate just a few weeks ago. The new images published on Russian networks, along with the video, suggest that the weapon is already being produced on a larger scalewhich wouldn’t be surprising.
Ukraine is asserting itself as a power in military technology and, in the country, the passage from the workshop to the battlefield It is measured in weeks, not months or years.
The success of these new “artisanal” Ukrainian bombs takes us, once again, to the cat and mouse game what this war has turned into.
If the passive defenses () that the Russians have been building in recent months continue to prove ineffective against this type of ammunition, the next step for Moscow will be look for a new solution capable of neutralizing it.
The problem is that, as is constantly the case in this war, Ukraine will also try to find a way around the new solution.
