Ukraine is developing its own glide bombs — the ones it got from the US often don't work
- Ukraine is now making glide bombs of its own.
- Russia has used the bombs, which can be fired out of reach of air defenses, to devastating effect.
Ukraine is making its own glide bombs, trying to match the Russian weapon that is causing so much damage.
The hope is that they will be more effective than the ones it has so far received from the West.
Brigadier General Serhii Holubtsov, chief of aircraft of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Ukraine will start testing the domestically made bombs in the next few weeks.
"We are now working on converting and producing our own corrected bombs based on conventional freefall bombs," he said in a radio interview, according to a translation by Ukrainian Pravda.
The bombs, otherwise known as glide bombs, have guidance systems that allow them to be launched at a distance.
They have emerged as a major weapon in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russian aircraft are able to release the bombs at a safe distance, making it very hard for Ukraine to stop them.
Russia has escalated their use over the past few months, giving it a notable military advantage.
Russia has been using them to pound the Kharkiv region, where it launched a major offensive last month.
Many experts consider the bombs to have been crucial in Russia taking the city of Avdiivka in February, in what was its first major victory in months.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Russia was using more than 3,000 of the bombs each month against Ukraine.
The West has given Ukraine some glide bombs to use against Russia, but Reuters reported last month that ones supplied by the US have struggled against Russian jamming.
This means that many have missed their targets, three sources told Reuters.
Holubtsov said there are many complex decisions to be made regarding Ukraine's homemade bombs, including "picking the appropriate wing, GPS module, and control module."
"In a few weeks, we should begin testing the first batches of these bombs, which are Ukrainian-made," he said.