The russian occupying forces have used their Grom-E1 munition for terrorist shelling of Ukraine since at least March 2023. It was then that this weapon was first visually documented. The bomb was seen in the Kuibyshevskyi district of the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk, likely after the glide-bombs fell due to a malfunction. Since that time, several instances of russians using this bomb for strikes on civilian targets in Myrnohrad, Kherson, and Kharkiv have been recorded.
The Telegraph decided to mention this russian weapon under the headline russia Has a New Deadly Flying Bomb. The article states that despite the active use of KABs by russian forces to destroy Ukrainian cities, their Su-34s sometimes suffer losses from Ukrainian air defense. The Grom-E1 serves as a way for russians to gain an even greater advantage.
Read more: Ukrainian Drones Strike russian Powder Plant in Tula
For comparison, the range of this glide-bombs is 120 km, whereas, for example, the range of the new UMPB D-30 bombs reaches 90 km. Although there have recently been suggestions that the russians want to extend the range of these glide-bombs up to 150 km, this option currently seems questionable, though not entirely unrealistic.
Therefore, as the publication emphasizes, the Grom-E1 glide-bombs may become one of the ways by which russia can outpace Ukraine in the air arms race.
At the same time, it remains unknown what stockpiles of this weapon russia currently has and whether it has managed to establish mass production of the Grom-E1, as we are still talking about isolated uses of this weapon at present.
In the context of countering glide bombs, it is worth mentioning that in July, volunteer Serhiy Prytula announced the presence of new weapons against russian glide bombs, noting that tests of this new type of weapon were underway.
Additionally, it is important to consider that russia’s latest strike UAV, the S-70 Okhotnik, will most likely serve as a carrier for glide bombs. Defense Express previously provided a detailed analysis of this threat and the enemy’s concept.
Read more: How Far Do Glide Bombs Fly, and Can russia Create KABs to Strike at a Distance of 150 km?
