&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Bombs with wings: How glide weapons are reshaping air warfare")
Not every weapon dropped from a fighter aircraft needs an engine to travel long distances. The growing importance of glide bombs is demonstrating how relatively simple technology can transform conventional bombs into precision stand-off weapons.
A glide bomb sits between a traditional bomb and a missile. Unlike a cruise missile, it does not require sustained propulsion. Instead, wings, navigation and precision guidance allow it to use the launching aircraft’s altitude and speed to glide towards its target.
The advantage is significant. Aircraft can potentially release these weapons from dozens or even more than a hundred kilometres away, reducing their exposure to enemy air defences. Glide bombs can also carry substantial explosive payloads while potentially costing considerably less than sophisticated powered missiles.
The Russia-Ukraine war has demonstrated their battlefield value. Russia has extensively used conventional bombs fitted with guidance and wing kits to attack Ukrainian positions, infrastructure and defensive lines from stand-off distances.
This creates an uncomfortable equation for air defence. Intercepting large numbers of comparatively inexpensive glide bombs can consume valuable surface-to-air missiles, while allowing them through can cause significant damage. Ukraine has consequently been developing its own glide weapons.
India is now expanding its capabilities in this area.
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The Indian Air Force has successfully drop-tested the indigenous Khagantak-243 from a Su-30MKI fighter. The weapon demonstrated a range exceeding 140 kilometres, while reports suggest a potential maximum range of around 180 kilometres under suitable launch conditions.
Khagantak, however, is only part of India’s emerging glide weapon arsenal.
DRDO’s Gaurav is a much heavier 1,000-kilogram-class long-range glide bomb that has demonstrated a range approaching 100 kilometres during trials.
India is also developing TARA, a glide kit intended to transform existing bombs into precision stand-off weapons. The Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon, or SAAW, provides another indigenous stand-off option designed to attack targets including airfield infrastructure.
Together, these programmes point towards a broader shift in India’s air-strike capabilities.
The future arsenal may not consist only of expensive missiles. It could increasingly include large numbers of cheaper precision weapons capable of being launched from safer distances.
Sometimes, giving a bomb wings, guidance and a longer reach may be enough to change the economics of an air war.
