The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has announced the launch of an initiative that encourages innovators, industry, and academia to develop counter-glide bomb technology. The initiative comes in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine, where these bombs have wreaked havoc.
Russia has launched several devastating attacks on Ukraine using lethal glide bombs over the course of the nearly three-year-old war, destroying fortified structures and causing massive casualties in frontline Ukrainian cities.
The catastrophe caused by these glide bombs has prompted the 32-member NATO Alliance to build a tenable counter against them. To that end, NATO recently announced the launch of its Counter Glide Bombs competition to develop technologies to detect, intercept, and neutralize hostile glide bombs.
The contest is a component of the 15th stage of the Innovation Challenges technology platform, which seeks to identify creative ideas for the defense industry.
The primary objective of the program, according to NATO’s Transformation Directorate, is to create strategies to counter Russian aerial weapons, including bombs with UMPK and D-30 UMPB modules (glide bombs), which are actively employed against Ukraine.
The competition focuses on identifying threats, intercepting and physically destroying bombs, and electronically suppressing and neutralizing bombs. The contest also welcomes solutions that will assist in areas like destroying these bombs in the air, preventing airplanes from reaching the launch line, safeguarding critical infrastructure, particularly in the cyber sphere, and ensuring economic efficiency in relation to the object of counteraction.
Moreover, the competition encourages employing cutting-edge technology, including machine vision, artificial intelligence, and other creative approaches that offer excellent performance and adaptability.
Why Does NATO Fear Glide Bombs?
A glide bomb is a conventional air-dropped bomb adapted to be launched remotely instead of directly over the target. These are simple dumb bombs that are converted into precision, smart bombs with the integration of wing kits and satellite navigation systems.
Dumb bombs differ from smart bombs because they lack guidance systems and are dropped straight downward from a bomber onto a target below.
Originating from World War II, the first example of a glide bomb was the German Fritz X, which the Nazis had invented. Subsequently, the United States promoted the development and deployment of a variety of glide bombs in wars, such as the Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan conflicts.
These bombs are significantly cheaper than cruise and ballistic missiles and have been deployed by Russia extensively and by the Ukrainian military to some extent. These improved bombs, directed by a guidance system, provide great destructive power.
The US has delivered its Joint Direct Armed Munition (JDAM) kits to Ukraine for use against Russia. In fact, the Ukrainian Air Force has started attacking Russian positions with the 1,000-pound (or 460-kilogram) variant of the Joint Advanced Direct Munition – Extended Range (JDAM-ER) bombs, as recently reported by the EurAsian Times.
Russia, for one, has been revamping its old Soviet stockpiles by upgrading heavy explosive dumb bombs with Unified Gliding and Correction Module (UMPK). This upgrade includes fold-out wings and a satellite navigation system that transforms these bombs into guided munitions and enables them to glide to their target.
Russia has extensively used glide bombs of 250 kilograms (FAB-250), 500 kilograms (FAB-500), and 1500 kilograms (FAB-1500). FAB is a Russian acronym for “High-Explosive Aviation Bomb.”
When paired with the 500-kilogram FAB-500 bomb, the UMPK can autonomously fly for 60 to 65 kilometers after being launched from high altitude by a carrier aircraft (mostly a Su-34) traveling at high speeds.
Some of these bombs are also equipped with UMPB D-30, which boasts an operational range of 20 to 30 kilometers greater than the UMPK. UMPB D-30 has frequently been equipped on the FAB-250 to convert it into a guided glide bomb.
Last month, Russia attacked a building in Zaporizhzhia using glide bombs and caused the highest civilian casualties in an attack on Ukraine in two years.
At the time, Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), told Ukrainian media that “Aerial glide bombs have become one of the greatest threats to civilians in cities along the frontline.” He attributed the increase in number of civilian casualties in 2024 to these bombs.
The extensive use of glide bombs has reportedly played a major role in Russia’s territorial gains in Ukraine, as they are vital in opening the way for advancing Russian ground forces.
Ukraine-based publication ‘The Kyiv Independent’ reported in January 2025 that Ukraine’s troubles are exacerbated by the fact that Russia keeps modifying and adapting their glide bombs, which increases their destructive power and range, putting more and more Ukrainian cities and villages in danger.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced in March last year that Russia had started mass production of three-tonne FAB-3000 high-explosive aviation bombs, as previously reported by EurAsian Times. Additionally, the production of FAB-500 aerial bombs was multiplied, and the production of FAB-1500 was doubled.
These bombs are typically launched from stand-off distances without having to enter the Ukrainian airspace, which is saturated with air defense systems. In March 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a whopping 3,000 glide bombs had hit targets in Ukraine.
Beyond military considerations, the affordability of the guidance kits associated with these glide bombs is another crucial factor. These kits, which cost less than two million roubles (about US$24,000), are significantly cheaper than a single Russian Kalibr cruise missile, which is estimated to be worth US$6.5 million.
As for Ukraine, despite having cutting-edge air defense systems, Ukrainian armed forces have struggled against Russia’s glide bombs. Despite concerns about their quality, Ukrainian military officials warn that these glide bombs, when deployed by Russian warplanes flying at extremely low altitudes over the front line, have the potential to wreak havoc.
The impending danger that these glide bombs pose and the poor defense against these weapons have essentially forced NATO to launch the counter-glide bomb competition. The contest underscores the urgency in NATO to build capability due to conventional war returning to Europe and the fear that the war could spill over.
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