Ukraine has developed its first domestically produced guided aerial bomb, which is now ready for combat use, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Monday, May 18.
Fedorov said the bomb was created by a participant in Ukraine’s Brave1 defense technology platform and has already passed the necessary preliminary tests.
“The first Ukrainian guided aerial bomb is ready for combat use,” Fedorov said, adding that Ukraine continues to develop “high-tech solutions for the front.”
Fedorov, who previously served as Ukraine’s digital transformation minister and championed the Brave1 cluster, said the bomb’s development took 17 months. He said the weapon features a “unique design” tailored to the realities of modern warfare and is not a copy of Western or Soviet systems.
The Ukrainian-made guided bomb is designed to target fortified positions, command posts and other targets with “dozens of kilometers” of standoff range after launch, he said.
Fedorov said the bomb uses a 250-kilogram (550-lb) warhead and that Ukraine’s defense ministry has already purchased an initial experimental batch.
Pilots are currently practicing combat scenarios and adapting the weapon for use under real wartime conditions, he added, in what Western air forces would characterize as operational test and evaluation (OT&E).
Fedorov said Ukraine is moving from importing individual solutions toward developing its own high-tech weapons aimed at strengthening the country’s defense forces and providing a technological advantage in the battlespace.
“Soon Ukrainian guided bombs will strike enemy targets. We are scaling up solutions that increase attack range and accuracy and are changing the rules of modern warfare,” he said.