Russia’s Devastating Guided Bomb ‘Should Be Setting Off Alarms for the Rest of the World’

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Russia’s air force has roared back to life. In recent weeks, the Russians have started modifying the fab-1500 dumb bombs into far more effective glide bombs. The fab-1500 is 1.5-tonne weapon. So it is a stunning amount of firepower, and Russia has massive stockpiles of these from the Soviet era.

They were originally made to be dead-dropped from airplanes, which requires the planes to get well within enemy range, and means the bombs have little accuracy.

But now Russia is adding pop-out wings and guidance systems to the fab-1500s, which turns them effectively into glide bombs. With this modification, Russian pilots can remain dozens of miles from their targets. And reports say they are now accurate to within 5 meters (16 feet).

This is a tremendously significant development. This is a huge part of what enabled Russia to conquer Avdiivka last month. Geostrategist Peter Zeihan said this has implications far beyond Ukraine.

This shift in Russian strategy should be setting off alarms for the rest of the world. With such a substantial transformation in Russian military power, global military strategies will need to be reevaluated and revised.
—Peter Zeihan

This is more evidence that, after months of pessimism about Russia and speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin could be ousted or that Russia would lose the war, the scales are increasingly tipping in Putin’s favor.