"Questions about the bomb": Experts discuss the bombing of the "Okhotnik" UAV at the "Ashuluk" training ground
Domestic and foreign experts and the press reacted to the publications on the use of aerial bombs by the promising unmanned aerial vehicle "Okhotnik", dropped from the fuselage compartment. Recall, that today in the Russian press (and this was reported by "Military Review" in one of the news materials) there was information about the use of a "caliber 500 kg) against the target at the Ashuluk training ground.
One of the questions, which are being considered by foreign military experts in connection with the next flight test of the drone, related to, "In what format" was the bomb dropped? Questions about the bomb are posed in connection with, what was announced about the presence on board the strike UAV "Hunter" of the latest sighting and navigation system, the use of which even conventional aerial bombs bring the efficiency closer to precision guided weapons.
In this regard, it was suggested that, that a heavy Russian UAV could drop a 500-kg aerial bomb without appearing directly above the attacked object.
If it is true, then such a format increases the chances of an attack UAV in terms of the ability to avoid using air defense systems of a conventional enemy on it. But in this situation, experts have another question.: how much the "mechanics" of a 500-kg bomb itself contributes to the ability to maneuver during the fall? In other words, at what distance from the target did the drone drop so, for the bomb to hit the target, "Reaching" it on your own. Assumptions about this are put forward by a variety of, but still it is impossible to talk about preferred, since there is no specific data on, what kind of bomb was dropped from its internal compartments by the "Hunter". initially it was assumed, that this is a bomb in one of the FAB-500 variants, however this is only a guess, in the press.
One thing is quite obvious: if the "Hunter" is capable of carrying an aerial bomb weighing 500 kg, then it may well be the corrected aerial bomb KAB-500, including KAB-500S (with high-explosive warhead), which is guided by the GLONASS channel. Earlier, the KAB-500 bombs of various modifications of the Russian Aerospace Forces were actively used during the counter-terrorist operation in Syria..