RUSSIA- MARCH 08: (——EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT – ‘RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT’ – NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS – DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS——) (EDITOR’S NOTE: The face of Russian soldiers have been blurred) The crew of Su-34 Fighter Bomber is seen before taking off as Russian Su-34 bombers used FAB-500 bombs with high-precision guidance hit Ukrainian fortifications and troops in the direction of Avdeevka area on March 08, 2024. (Photo by Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Moscow is accelerating production of one of the most destructive weapons in its arsenal, planning to manufacture up to 120,000 glide bombs this year, one Ukrainian intelligence official told Reuters. Of those, about 500 are a longer-range model capable of striking targets more than 125 miles from the front.
Figures from Ukrainian intelligence show that Russian aircraft now release 200 to 250 glide bombs every day, far more than Ukraine can intercept. The Kremlin is turning mass production of cheap, winged munitions into a central pillar of its campaign to hit cities behind the lines and to destroy Ukrainian fortifications.
Russia’s existing guided aerial bombs were initially estimated to have a range of up to about 55 miles, allowing Russian aircraft to remain behind the front line while striking Ukrainian targets. However, even as Russia ramps up glide-bomb production, it is not clear whether its fighter fleet can actually deploy the volume of munitions being produced each day.
Ruslan Tsarenok of the 27th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine described the methodical destruction in an interview with me. Russian glide bombs “hit infrastructure, warehouses and strongpoints,” he said. “They keep hitting us, and they gradually work square after square, destroying everything, including logistics.”
Extended Reach, Greater Threat
Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, speaking at the RBC-Ukraine forum in October said Russian engineers have upgraded their universal planning and correction module (UMPK) kits fitted to 250-, 500-, 1,500- and 3,000-kilogram bombs.
KYIV, UKRAINE – JANUARY 8: Deputy Head Of Chief Of Defence Intelligence Of Ukraine Vadym Skibitskyi gives an interview with Ukrainian news media on January 8, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Skibitsky noted that the main targets of the Russian missile attacks were the objects of the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex, headquarters, control systems and separate units located on the front line, unlike the previous winter, when the energy infrastructure was under attack. (Photo by Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
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Ukrainian intelligence believes Russia is now moving toward mass production of these extended-range systems, widening the threat to frontline regions and major urban centers. Those capabilities are already being felt. In October, Russia launched long-range glide bomb strikes across the Mykolaiv, Poltava and Odesa regions.
Those assessments align with independent analysis. John Hardie, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Russia Program, wrote in the Long War Journal that “the Russians will likely use these bombs to attack critical infrastructure, military and military-industrial targets in cities such as Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro and Poltava.”
Andrii Rumyantsev, a soldier with Ukraine’s 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, told me that the new long-range bombs pose a severe threat to the civilian population. “This is a very painful problem for Ukrainians. It is a very dangerous weapon for terrorizing the civilian population because it lacks precision and is relatively cheap to produce. We have no countermeasure against long-range glide bombs other than destroying their carriers. Otherwise, all of our cities within their range will be wiped out.”
New Navigation Systems
According to a detailed analysis by Ukrainian electronic warfare specialist Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, Russia’s new jet-powered UMPB-5R glide bomb features a major navigation upgrade: a newly observed 16-element Russian-made CRPA antenna, which was long rumored but only recently confirmed in recovered debris.
The advanced antenna boosts resistance to jamming and helps the bomb maintain precise guidance over long distances. Beskrestnov argues this reveals two trends: Ukrainian EW is forcing Russia to harden its guidance systems, and countering these new antennas will require a much denser Ukrainian EW network, potentially every five kilometers.
Anatolii Tkachenko, commander of a mortar battery unit from Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Assault Brigade told me that the glide bombs “often just fall in the fields, and the sappers, about 30-35 engineers, dismantle them for TNT and ammunition.”
According to the Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi, Russia is introducing two new types of long-range aerial munitions: the UMPB-5R glider fitted with a jet engine and an upgraded UMPK guidance kit with improved aerodynamics. Both are designed to strike targets from beyond the reach of Ukrainian air defenses, letting Russian aircraft fire from safer distances.
Militarnyi noted that UMPB-5R debris shows it uses a Chinese SW800Pro-Y turbojet engine typically found in drones and large model aircraft. These range upgrades will allow Russia to conserve its more expensive missile stockpiles while still striking Ukrainian cities.
On the front line, Tsarenok says that these technical upgrades are already translating into a more dangerous reality: “The new engines, and the fact that they are increasing the range, are unfortunately being scaled up and improved.”
Battlefield Impact
The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russian forces augmented their tactical campaign against Ukrainian ammunition depots and fortified defensive structures in the Pokrovsk direction with glide bombs and Shahed drone strikes.
POKROVSK, UKRAINE – AUGUST 31: In an aerial view, destroyed apartment buildings remain in a residential district hit by Russian shelling on August 31, 2025 in Pokrovsk, Ukraine. Pokrovsk remains one of the most difficult areas of the front of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. Every day, Russian forces destroy the city by dropping aerial bombs and shelling it with artillery. Civilians remain in Pokrovsk. (Photo by Taras Ibragimov/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
According to the ISW, glide bombs and Shahed drone strikes deliver larger payloads than tactical drones, enabling Russian forces to damage or destroy more fortified structures. Russian forces have increasingly been targeting high-rise buildings in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad with glide bombs, likely in an effort to destroy Ukrainian fortified positions.
Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general writing for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, notes that Ukrainian commanders say Russia now employs a “1,000 bites” tactic – sending small teams to probe the wide, shallow gaps in Ukraine’s lines and then pushing infantry and drones through any opening.
Ryan noted that where no gap exists, Russian forces increasingly use glide bombs to create one, particularly in dense urban areas where a single strike can collapse fortified positions. “We’re adapting, doing what we can, setting up new positions,” said Tkachenko.
Russia’s ability to produce glide bombs at scale, combined with extended-range variants, allows Moscow to maintain pressure on Ukrainian positions while keeping its aircraft beyond the reach of most air-defense systems. This dynamic may grow more challenging for Ukraine as production accelerates through the end of the year.