Ukraine completes first domestically produced guided aerial bomb, now combat-ready
Ukraine has developed its first domestically produced guided aerial bomb, now ready for combat use, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on May 18. The bomb, created by a participant in the Brave1 defense technology platform, features a 250-kilogram warhead and a standoff range of tens of kilometers. Fedorov said the weapon is not a copy of Western or Soviet systems and that the ministry has already purchased an initial experimental batch.
Ukraine has completed development of its first domestically produced guided aerial bomb, which is now ready for combat use, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on May 18.
Fedorov said the bomb was created by a participant in Ukraine’s Brave1 defense technology platform and has passed necessary preliminary tests. Development took 17 months, he said. The weapon features a “unique design” tailored to the realities of modern warfare and is not a copy of Western or Soviet systems, Fedorov added.
The bomb is designed to target fortified positions, command posts and other enemy targets. It has a standoff range of “dozens of kilometers” after launch, Fedorov said, and carries a 250-kilogram (550-pound) warhead.
The Ministry of Defense has purchased an initial experimental batch, Fedorov said. Pilots are currently training and adapting operational scenarios for real combat conditions, he added.
“Soon Ukrainian guided bombs will strike enemy targets,” Fedorov said. “We are scaling up solutions that increase attack range and accuracy and are changing the rules of modern warfare.”
Fedorov, who previously served as Ukraine’s digital transformation minister and championed the Brave1 cluster, said Ukraine is moving from importing individual solutions toward developing its own high-tech weapons to strengthen the country’s defense forces and provide a technological advantage in the battlespace.