Image source: topwar.ru
The United States supplies Ukraine with precision-guided small-diameter aerial bombs (SDB). Video footage of a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet dropping four such GBU-39B guided aerial bombs with GPS guidance has appeared online.
At the moment of dropping ammunition, the aircraft performs an aerobatic figure – a "barrel".
The GBU-39 precision-guided munition is designed to deliver strikes with high accuracy and minimal collateral damage at a distance of up to 110 kilometers.
Last summer, there was evidence of the modernization of MiG-29 fighters belonging to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the use of GBU-39. However, the first reports of the combat use of these American-made ammunition were received several months earlier.
The standard BRU-61/A holder, widely used by the US military aviation, is used to mount bombs on the MiG-29. It is designed for four aerial bombs.
Image source: topwar.ru
The GBU-39 ammunition has a mass of 130 kilograms. When dropped from a height of 12 kilometers, the aerial bomb is capable of covering a distance of up to 110 kilometers. However, its actual range, if used on board the MiG-29 or possibly the Su-27, is not reported.
Initially, guided bombs manufactured by the United States were supposed to be used from ground-based missile launchers. In particular, it was supposed to strike with such ammunition using MLRS HIMARS and M270. But tests have shown that when dropped from an airplane, the accuracy of the hit was higher.
