Ukraine’s New Guided Glide Bomb Reaches Combat Readiness

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has declared combat readiness for its first domestically produced aerial bomb. (Image: Ministry of Defense)

May 20, 2026

Ukraine’s first glide bomb, developed by a Brave1 participant, has passed all required tests and is ready for combat use.

What is a Glide Bomb?

A glide bomb, or guided aerial bomb (GAB), is an air-launched munition equipped with guidance and aerodynamic control systems that significantly improve targeting accuracy.

Its main advantage over conventional aerial bombs is that it can be launched dozens of kilometers from the target, helping aircraft stay outside enemy air-defense range.

How Ukraine's glide bomb compares to Western GBUs and Russian KABs

Western air forces field a range of similar systems known as Guided Bomb Units (GBUs), including the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, GBU-31 JDAM, and extended-range JDAM-ER. These weapons use guidance kits attached to conventional bombs.

Russia has fielded its own version since 2023 by retrofitting Soviet-era FAB bombs with the UMPK guidance kit.

Ukraine’s new glide bomb is a domestically developed answer to this class of weapons.

Brave1 — a Ukrainian government‑backed defense technology investment platform — supported the project with an early-stage grant.

How This Weapon was Developed: From World War II to GPS

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense recently published an in-depth overview of the bomb’s development. Early guided-bomb concepts appeared during World War II, including Germany’s Fritz X, used against warships, and the U.S. Azon, used against bridges and rail junctions.

A major leap came during the Vietnam War, when the United States used Paveway laser-guided bombs for precision strikes on hardened targets that previously required dozens of sorties with unguided munitions.

The next turning point came during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when laser and television guidance proved vulnerable to bad weather and smoke from burning oil wells and sandstorms. In response, the Pentagon developed JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition), a kit that turns conventional bombs into precision weapons using inertial navigation and GPS. Coordinates are set before release, allowing the bomb to fly autonomously in any weather. JDAM was first used on a large scale in 1999 during NATO operations in Yugoslavia.

That approach — a universal guidance and correction module fitted to a standard bomb body — became the dominant model in guided-bomb production worldwide and was later adopted by other militaries, including Russia’s.

The guided aerial bomb features a design tailored to the realities of modern warfare.

“Ukraine is shifting from importing individual solutions to building indigenous high-tech weapons that systematically enhance the capabilities of the Defence Forces and provide technological superiority on the battlefield,” Mykhailo Fedorov of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said. “Ukraine’s guided aerial bomb will soon strike enemy targets. We are scaling solutions that extend strike range, enhance precision, and change the rules of modern warfare.”

Ready for Combat

Equipped with a 250 kg warhead, the glide bomb can strike fortifications, command posts, and other targets dozens of kilometers behind enemy lines.

Brave1 shared a video of the domestically developed bomb on X.

“Modern CABs are classified by two main parameters: targeting method and aerodynamic-surface design. Their combination determines an individual munition’s accuracy, range, and combat-use conditions,” Brave1 notes in the X update. “DG Industry, a Brave1 participant, has completed all required trials and declared the weapon ready for combat after 17 months of development. The bomb carries a 250 kg warhead, can hit targets dozens of kilometers behind enemy lines, and was designed from scratch rather than copied from Western or Soviet systems.”

The Ministry of Defence has already procured the first experimental batch, and pilots are practicing combat scenarios as the system’s operational use expands. According to Brave1, the bomb can be launched from F-16s and Mirage jets.

The system’s combat debut is expected soon.

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