Ukraine has developed its first guided aerial bomb ready for combat use

A Brave1 cluster participant has developed Ukraine’s first guided aerial bomb, which has already undergone testing and is ready for combat use. Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced this, though did not disclose the developer’s name.

Development took 17 months. The guided aerial bomb is said to feature a unique design and is not a copy of Western or Soviet solutions. The bomb’s warhead weighs 250 kg, making it suitable for striking fortifications, command posts, and other targets at ranges of tens of kilometres.

The Ministry of Defence has already procured the first experimental batch of the product, with pilots working through combat scenarios and adapting the weapon’s employment.

Previously, Ukraine relied on Western partners’ developments, including JDAM. Work on a domestic equivalent became known at least as far back as 2024, when the head of aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Serhii Holubtsov, stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would begin testing domestically produced guided aerial bombs, Suspilne reports. It is also known that the Medoid design bureau was engaged in the development of guided bombs.

Defender Media previously reported that Brave1 had tested a Ukrainian drone equipped with a terminal guidance system from Dutch company FDCL.