More than two years after Russian glide bombs first appeared on the Ukrainian battlefield, the Ukrainian Air Force has successfully carried out its first operational test of a domestically developed UMPK-equipped bomb. The test took place on June 25.

The acronym UMPK refers to the modular glide kit installed on FAB-series bombs (Unifitsirovannogo Nabora Modulei Planirovaniya i Korektsii, or “Unified Module Set for Gliding and Correction”).

During the test, a Su-24M tactical bomber released a FAB-500 bomb fitted with a glide kit designed and manufactured by the Ukrainian company Medoid Design Bureau—a firm about which little public information is available. Video analysis of the bomb drop reveals that the Ukrainian glide kit closely resembles its Russian counterpart, strongly suggesting that Ukrainian engineers reverse-engineered the system based on recovered Russian components.

Initial development and testing of the Ukrainian UMPK kit began in 2024. Designed to convert legacy FAB-500—and likely also FAB-250—bombs into precision stand-off weapons, these early trials focused on expanding the release distance from target zones. It remains unclear whether the prototypes tested at that time included functional guidance systems. The core purpose of the kit remains to extend the stand-off range, enabling strike aircraft to launch munitions from beyond the reach of enemy air defenses.

The system tested on June 25 appears to integrate a functioning guidance module. Like its Russian counterpart, the guidance module not only enables the bomb to be released from a distance of approximately 60 km (with some Ukrainian sources suggesting this could be extended to 80 km), but also allows the weapon to be directed onto its target using a combination of inertial navigation and satellite guidance—while adjusting its trajectory during the glide phase. According to multiple corroborated sources, both the navigation system and the gliding control surfaces were manufactured entirely in Ukraine, with only a few electronic components sourced externally.

Ukraine’s drive to develop a domestic glide bomb capability reflects the country’s limited access to Western stand-off munitions. The Ukrainian Air Force has received small quantities of advanced Western systems such as the French AASM HAMMER and the American GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, but these are insufficient for sustained operations. In contrast, the Ukrainian UMPK offers a cost-effective alternative, with an estimated unit cost of $25,000. It also capitalizes on Ukraine’s vast reserves of Soviet-era FAB bombs, keeping production scalable and affordable.

However, several challenges persist—particularly at the operational and industrial levels. Russian electronic warfare systems capable of disrupting GPS signals could degrade the bomb’s accuracy, as has already been observed with Russian UMPK-equipped munitions. While anti-jamming technologies are reportedly in development, their integration timeline remains uncertain. On the industrial side, Ukraine continues to face major obstacles in its defense production capacity, with supply chains strained by more than three years of full-scale war. Bureaucratic and financial hurdles further complicate the picture: despite the system nearing final approval by the Ministry of Defense, a shortage of funding has significantly delayed the start of mass production. In response, a crowdfunding initiative has been launched to support the program’s continuation.

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(Image: Defense Express)