The Ukrainian Air Force is testing a domestic equivalent of the UMPK kit, allowing Ukrainian aircraft to conduct long-range bombing strikes against the invaders.
Notably, this unidentified type of guided aerial bomb features a component in the tail section that resembles either a solid-fuel booster or a turbojet engine, which theoretically could significantly extend the range of its potential use, especially under the constant threat of russian air defense systems.
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Defense Express previously analyzed in a publication why simply copying the russian UMPK for FAB bombs would not work for Ukraine, and why a separate equivalent had to be developed. The answer lies in the specific conditions under which Ukrainian aviation operates in the war against russia.
In this case, however, the question about the configuration and development history of this munition for the Su-24M, which was shown above, becomes even more pressing, as there could be at least three basic scenarios in this story.
The first scenario is that Ukrainian engineers designed this guided aerial bomb as an indirect equivalent of the russian UMPK. Moreover, it's worth noting that the development of this russian guided munition included four different versions, one of which involved installing a solid-fuel booster to increase the drop range to 115 kilometers.
The second scenario is that Ukrainian engineers might have opted to create a more complex aviation munition, one that would serve as an indirect counterpart to the French AASM Hammer.
The third scenario—and it's worth noting—relates to a report from July 2024 stating that the U.S. is developing the ERAM bomb-missile for Ukraine with a range of 463 km. The details of the project remain extremely limited: the contract for development was awarded in January 2024, with mass production scheduled to begin within 24 months, and an anticipated production capacity of up to 1,000 units per year.
While it may be overly optimistic to expect that this U.S.-made ERAM bomb-missile is already being tested on Ukrainian aircraft, it’s important not to completely dismiss any possible scenarios.
Read more: Video Shows a Ukrainian MiG-29 Launch AASM Hammer Precision-Guided Standoff Bombs
