NATO member countries have announced the launch of a new program, which will involve various entities, such as weapon manufacturing companies, academic institutes, and more.
The ultimate goal of this new initiative is to develop a solution to counter the deadly Russian glide bomb technology, a technology that has proven to be particularly effective and destructive in Ukraine.
Russia's deadliest conventional weapon
Specifically, the Western defense alliance has decided to unite its forces to find a solution to one of the deadliest conventional weapons of the Russian Air Force: glide bombs equipped with guidance kits.
These kits are placed on unguided bombs of various classes (from 150 kg to several tons) and turn them into precision-guided munitions, while extending their range. Russia uses these munitions almost daily on the battlefield, and Kyiv has repeatedly stated that it has no means of countering them.
All 32 members of NATO have agreed to participate in the new Counter Glide Bombs competition program, which was created with one primary goal: to find a system to counter these Russian guided bombs, so that NATO is prepared for a potential future conflict with Russia.
Under the umbrella of this initiative, technologies are expected to be developed that will help NATO forces detect, intercept, and neutralize enemy bombs equipped with guidance kits.
The most popular Russian guidance kits are the UMPK and D-30 UMPB types. These kits are usually placed on the well-known FAB bomb family, models of which have been used to destroy entire Ukrainian cities or strategic targets.
The main objective of the Counter Glide Bombs program is to address Russian bombs equipped with the UMPK kit, as it is the most popular Russian guidance kit. The bombs equipped with such kits are called glide bombs.
Russian glide bombs have proven to be so "invulnerable" that the participants in NATO's new program are expected to leverage artificial intelligence to develop an effective solution to the threat posed by these Russian munitions.
We await with curiosity and anticipation to see what system and technologies the companies will invent.
