Status: 16.01.2024, 16:03 PM
By: Erkan Pehlivan
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With the new glide bomb "DREL", Russia wants to inflict damage on its opponent in the Ukraine war - among other things with cluster munitions, which are banned in more than 100 countries.
Moscow – Russia is working on new types of weapons. According to the state news agency TASS, the arms company Rostec plans to start serial production of the PBK-500U "DREL" cluster glide bomb this year.
The new weapon has been in development since 2016 and was originally supposed to go into series production as early as 2021. Although Rostec claims that the DREL has a gliding trajectory on its target over a long distance, it does not hide further details.
According to the manufacturer, the weapon is designed to release its payload "at exactly the right moment" to destroy armored vehicles, radar stations, power plant control centers and anti-aircraft systems. A statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the DREL had all "already gone through all the tests required by the customer."
DREL can be equipped with various ammunition
According to Military Watch magazine, the 500 kg bomb is supported by a GPS system. The bomb can be equipped with various cluster munitions. As the DREL approaches its target, it can parachute down 15 submunitions designed to effectively penetrate enemy armor and defenses. The bomb is said to be equipped with thermal sensors that will allow it to detect "cold" targets, such as tanks with engines turned off.
Russia also wants to destroy enemy tanks in the Ukraine war with a new type of bomb. © IMAGO/Laurel Choir
Cluster bombs banned in many countries
Conventional cluster bombs are banned in more than 100 countries. They release a large number of smaller bombs that explode indiscriminately over a large area. Those that do not explode remain a danger to the population for decades to come. Ukraine is also using cluster bombs received from the United States. However, Kiev had pledged to use them only against enemy soldiers.
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500 kg bomb to detect between friend and foe
According to media reports from 2018, the bomb is equipped with a "friend-foe" identification system, which minimizes the risk of an attack on its own forces. It also has an electronic countermeasures package that makes it resistant to jammers and radar detection. The DREL can be dropped at a maximum altitude of 14 km, which would give it a range of 30-50 kilometers, writes the Kyiv Post.
The bombs were developed for the modern fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jets. Also, in the future, the DREL bombs are to be dropped by Su-34 attack aircraft. Both warplanes have stealth technologies and have a longer range than many other Western fighter jets. (Erkan Pehlivan)