That’s bad news for Ukies."
Russia's Shoigu inspects FAB-3000
So I hear, they're bad news.
But maybe we'll be hearing less & less about them.
This is from a recent report:
"The Russian air force reportedly didn’t build very many FAB-3000s.Maybe, we'll see...
At the current strike rate, they could be gone soon—and the air force will return to lobbing the more efficient 3,300-pound glide bombs [FAB-1500].But even those bombs might lose their relevance soon.
Desperate to blunt the impacts of as many as a hundred Russian glide bombs a month, Ukrainian forces have begun deploying more and better radio jammers that can block the signals between the bombs and the satellites that steer them.'Electronic warfare wins.
Accuracy drops,' Fighterbomber noted.
'The age of the [glide bomb] with a cheap satellite guidance system is ending.'"
Glide bombs are said to have been important in Russia's conquest of Avdiivka in February, but have had less effect on Russia's invasions toward Kharkiv since May.
Ukrainian electronic counter-measures against Russian GPS may be one reason.
Also, it appears increasing size reduces the range of such weapons such that the FAB-3000 may not reach out even the 25 miles said of the FAB-1500.
Shorter range means the SU-34 fighter/bombers have to fly closer to Ukraine's increasingly capable air defenses.
FAB-3000 used against Vovchansk and Lyptsi:
Russia's SU-34 with FAB-1500 vs. Ukraine's future F-16s
