Photographs surfaced on March 8th, 2024, indicate russian invasion forces had used previously unseen ordnance with the "UMPB" marking inscribed on its hull. The weapon was made out of a FAB-250 free-falling bomb.
Preliminary analysis of the wreckage tells that UMPB is a type of air-launched weapon that has a bomb integrated into the guidance-and-glide kit, with inertial and satellite navigation systems, ailerons, and actuators at its aft end.
Read more: The russians Used the UMPK Module to Convert the FAB-250 Into a Guided Aerial Bomb
The most interesting part is that the source, war_home Telegram blog, suggests a jet engine and fuel tank were inside the weapon as well. This basically makes UMPB a simpler cruise missile analog, similar but cheaper than the Grom-E1 missile/bomb — this weapon was fired at Ukraine, too, in March 2023. Same idea was central to the U.S. project called Powered JDAM aiming to make a hybrid of a missile and a dumb bomb by installing a jet engine on a Joint Direct Attack Munition.
An interesting addition to the context was provided by russian military blogger Fighterbomber who identified this weapon as UMPB D-30SN. The acronym stands for "versatile intermediate gliding munition," highlighting its "intermediate" standing between different types of ordnance and the fact it can be launched from various platforms: according to the blogger, the glide bomb has a diameter of 30 cm and can be deployed not only by aircraft but by Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems as well. No other specifications were mentioned.
The statement about UMPB being able to fit inside an MLRS raised reasonable doubts in the military expert community, in particular, there are suspension lugs protruding from the surface of the hull making it unlikely to fit inside a launch tube of a standard ground-based rocket launcher.
Read more: russian Aircraft Do Not Dare to Fly Closer Than 150 km to Frontline Because of Threat to Be Shot Down by Ukrainian Air Defense
