Region develops series of weapons with various seekers

Russian munitions maker Region has developed a new range of guided bombs which have entered production for the Russian air force, Flight International can reveal.

The new bombs include versions with television and semi-active laser guidance, and GPS/Glonass satellite navigation, for use with target acquisition systems produced by the same company.

The smallest weapon is the LGB-250, but no Russian service designation is available. The 300kg (660lb)weapon has a 250kg warhead, with a fragmentation/high-explosive (HE) filling. Guidance is semi-active laser and "feathering" giving 3-10m (10-33ft) accuracy.

The KAB-500E has GPS/Glonass guidance, with the ability to input a target location before take-off or in flight. It has a 380kg HE penetrating warhead and 5-10m accuracy.

The similar KAB-500LG has semi-active laser guidance, but a 460kg HE warhead. An accuracy of 4-7m is claimed.

The KAB-500Kr is a TV-guided variant with drop-and-forget capability. The weapon has a 100kg penetrator warhead to engage "concrete shelters, bridges and runways". Guidance is by matching the seeker image with one already stored in the weapon.

The largest weapons are the KAB-1500-Kr/Pr/OD, which share a common airframe and TV guidance but have different warheads. The 1,170kg Kris for hard targets; the 1,100kg Kr-Pr is for the hardest targets such as nuclear weapon storage sites and command posts; and the 1,170kg Kr-OD is an aerosol explosive with instantaneous fuse. The airframe has pop-out rear fins, cruciform control fins at the front and what appear to be two small steering motors.

The KAB-1500LG-F-E, 1500LG and 1500LG-OD-E are laser-guided bombs with HE, concrete piercing or aerosol warheads with similar pop-out fins.

The weapons are associated with the KAB-500 Kr-UPK and UNU targeting systems, which are designed to "search for, detect and identify ground and sea targets and manually track them", and detect and capture the target illuminated by a laser which is not fixed on the carrier." The KAB-500Kr-UNU is used with the TV-guided bombs and uses a Krym-M TV homing system.

Source: Flight International