/ world today news/ Military Watch Magazine: The Russian planning bomb “Drel” has become a threat to the Ukrainian army
Russia has begun mass production of a high-precision Drel cluster bomb compatible with the Su-57 stealth fighter, as it nears the formation of a new regiment of such fighters, journalists from the American military magazine Military Watch Magazine (MWM) write. In their new material for the publication, they tell why Drell is capable of thwarting the plans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Pravda.Ru publishes the translation of MWM’s material.
Russian state defense concern Rostech has announced that it intends to begin mass production of the 500-kilogram PBK-500U “Drel” precision cluster bomb in 2024, and that the weapon system “already passed all kinds of tests specified by the customer”, namely the Ministry of Defence.
The bombs are designed to be the primary gravity weapon used by the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jets, whose production has risen to 12 fighters a year in 2023, effectively doubling the size of the fleet to 22 aircraft.
The Drell is also expected to serve as the primary armament of the country’s rapidly growing fleet of Su-34 strike fighters, which are being acquired at a faster rate than any other Soviet-era fighter class and have begun entering service as upgraded variants of the Su -34M from July 2022
Both fighters benefit from the limited use of stealth technology, have more than twice the range of any Western fighter class, and can also carry very long-range strategic cruise missiles normally only used by heavy bombers. These two fighter classes are the only aircraft of this type currently in production, with orders expected to continue into the 2030s.
Bomb planner guidance systems operate on a “shoot-and-forget” basis, meaning they do not require target illumination or guidance from aircraft. The bombs use inertial and GLONASS satellite guidance for maximum accuracy, and also have a “friend or foe” identification system and anti-radio-electronic interference.
The targeting systems are reportedly well-optimized for engaging fast-moving targets. Each bomb contains fifteen homing anti-tank charges, each weighing about fifteen kilograms, and these high-payload submunitions, combined with the accuracy of the bomb, allow a very small number of bomb drops to cause enormous damage that would have required multiple bombardments with the older models bombs.
It is estimated that one cluster munition for the Drel bomb will be enough to destroy an entire rocket battery or tank column. Considering that the Russian Air Force intends to form its first full regiment of Su-57 fighters in early 2024, and by the end of the year these aircraft will be introduced in the size of a regiment and a half, it remains unclear how many DREL bombs will will be in service until then, if at all they will be deployed first in the Su-57 or Su-34 divisions.
The announcement that the Drell bomb will soon enter mass production comes as the Western and Ukrainian militaries have increasingly highlighted with great concern the effectiveness of the Russian Air Force’s bombing campaigns, using an array of planning bombs against forward positions of the Ukrainian army, which personnel described as opening the “gates of hell” when using them.
“Drel” has similar planning properties, which allows it to be launched at a distance of up to 50 km from targets, and according to some sources, much further, although its precision targeting capabilities significantly exceed those of existing bombs.
Provided that reports from Ukrainian front-line units indicate that the existing and hitherto Russian planning aerial bombs are now considered practically impossible to shoot down, the Drell design has significantly increased its survivability, thanks to a significantly reduced radar cross-section.
It remains unclear how many bombs the Su-57s will be able to carry in their internal weapons bays, and whether their reduced radar cross-section could allow fighters to carry them externally without significantly compromising their own stealth capabilities.
Translation: ES
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