Russian warplanes with aerial bombs can be destroyed by upgraded Buk SAMs – military expert Kovalenko

Military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko said this on Espreso TV. 

“How to counteract? This bomb cannot be shot down by air defense systems. It is possible to change the GPS guidance through electronic warfare, that is, to blow them off course. But still, this bomb will fall somewhere and destroy something. It will be good if it is some field or forest, but it can also be a settlement,” he said.

According to the expert, it is more effective to destroy the bomb carrier, that is the aircraft itself.

“This can be done with the help of appropriate medium- or long-range anti-aircraft missile systems or aircraft with long-range air-to-air missiles. If missile weapons with a radius of more than 80-100 km are used, the Russians will not risk their warplanes, which are worth their weight in gold, in such circumstances. This means either receiving missiles of such a modification for air defense systems from our partners, or receiving Western aircraft with missiles, such as AIM-120 AMRAAM, which have a range of 100+ km,” Kovalenko added.

He emphasized that Russian warplanes are afraid of even Ukraine's medium-range Buk M1 SAMs.

“These systems can be equipped with RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles, which have a considerable range, after a small modernization. I do not exclude that they can be a counterargument to Russian gliding bombs as a threat to their carriers. The time to get to the front depends on the pace of modernization of the SAMs, where it will take place, and how the logistics of supplying the missiles themselves will be organized,” the expert concluded.