- Ukraine has approved for combat use the first domestic guided aerial bomb.
- The Ministry of Defense received an experimental batch and pilots are already training for deployment.
- The bomb is an original Ukrainian design, it does not come from Western or Soviet systems.
Ukraine has approved for combat use the first home-made guided aerial bomb after passing all the required tests. Defense Minister Mykhaylo Fedorov said that his ministry has already received the first experimental batch and the pilots are training combat procedures with the new ammunition. TASR writes about it according to the Military Times and Defense Blog websites.
The development of the Vyrivňuvač (Leveller) bomb with a 250-kilogram warhead took 17 months. It is capable of destroying fortifications, command posts and other important targets tens of kilometers beyond the launch site. Its price is said to be about a third compared to the American JDAM-ER system.
The weapon was designed with modern guidance algorithms that increase the accuracy of the hit. It is compatible with current Ukrainian F-16 and Mirage aircraft, but additional certification is required for its use.
It was developed by DG Industry, a participant in the Ukrainian defense technology cluster Brave1. The government-backed initiative connects Ukrainian defense startups with military procurement and accelerates the manufacturing process from concept to combat deployment.
Brave1 used the wording “Ukraine’s own KAB” to describe it, a Soviet-era acronym for guided aerial bomb. He emphasized that its design is a unique Ukrainian construction adapted specifically to the conditions of modern warfare. It is not a copy of Western systems or the origin of the Soviet systems used by Moscow against Ukraine.
