Espreso Global Russia-Ukraine war Russia upgrades its UMPK glide bomb kit, boasts of increased range

Russia upgrades its UMPK glide bomb kit, boasts of increased range

Sofia Polonska

30 August, 2024 Friday

20:33

The new version of the universal gliding and correction module (UMPK), which converts conventional free-fall bombs into flight-correcting gliders, now features a wider wing span that folds at the bomb's tail

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Previously, the UMPK's wings were shorter. Russian military blogger Fighterbomber shared a photo of the updated version, who mentioned that the new design offers a longer range.

New version of UMPC with a larger wing Photo: Defense Express

Back in December 2023, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov revealed that work was in progress to develop a longer-range UMPK. It appears to have taken about six months to bring this new version to fruition, though it's unclear how widely it has been produced.

The exact range increase of the new UMPK remains uncertain. The previous version enabled attacks from a range of about 60-65 km in high-altitude flight mode, despite Russia claiming an 80 km range. The D-30SN, with a reported miniature engine, is the only Russian model known to reach a 90 km range.

While the precise improvement in the UMPK's range is unknown, each additional kilometer offers the enemy the ability to conduct safer attacks or strike deeper targets with the same level of risk.