HISTORY

TENING II). The container transmits the

coordinates to the bomb which is then

released by a pilot. The accuracy is within five meters. In case GPS signal is lost

the bomb “remembers” the target with 10

meters accuracy. There is another option

when a pilot manually enters the coordinates during the flight according to his

target identification or according to the

coordinates supplied by the ground control. In both situations the integration of

the aircraft’s electronic systems is necessary.

The third option is the easiest one. The

target coordinates are entered into the

bomb while it is still on the ground before the take off and pilot only delivers it

to the designated area. It is quite probable that the Ukrainians will deploy JDAM

exactly in this way. It requires the minimal

modifications of the aircraft – just adding

GPS and control component to release

the bomb.

In the preceding months the Ukrainians

successfully adapted the HARM anti-radar missiles for Mig-29 and Su-27 fighters. HARM is capable to actively search

for the targets itself and so the Ukrainians

only added GPS and a tablet to their fighters which helps to launch the HARM rocket and it locks on the enemy radar itself.

And it seems to be working. It is possible

that if JDAM bomb is linked to the aircraft

tablet (for example via Bluetooth) the

Ukrainian will be able to enter the target

coordinates by a pilot during the mission.

It is possible that the Ukrainians will drop

the JDAM bombs from Su-24 and Su-25

fighter bombers. When dropped from the

high altitude and speed this munition can

glide as far as 20 km. The Ukrainian aircraft however cannot afford flying at high

altitudes in the vicinity of the frontline.

Therefore Su-25 will supposedly release

the bombs in the same way they launch

the unguided missiles – on the ballistic

trajectory. The airplane will fly at the maximum airspeed close to the ground, then

it will climb and release the bomb forward

on the curved trajectory. As opposed to

the unguided missiles the JDAM will be

significantly more accurate. There is another detail in favor of JDAM supplies –

a bomb equipped with this set is six times

less expensive than the guided missile for

the HIMARS rocket launchers.

Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Fedorov (pictured) was killed along with First Lieutenant Vladislav Levchuk on December

11 in a Mi-8. Note the message to Putin in the window of the helicopter and the machine gun mounted in its nose.

The first crashed on Sunday, December 11

while attacking the Russian positions with

the unguided missile near Konstantinovka

in Donetsk area. Pilots Vladislav Levchuk

and Maxim Fedorov were killed. Another

loss occurred on Monday, December 19

near the village of Tonenkov in Donetsk

area. Two Mi-8 helicopters were flying in

a column close to the ground. The camera

in the rear aircraft captured the rocket hit

on the leading helicopter. The thick black

smoke billowed, and it crashed shortly

afterwards.

Despite the danger the pilots of the rear

aircraft turned around and landed near

the smoking wreck to try to help its crew.

They did not manage to save two crew

members – Lt. Col. Oleksandr Zubatch

and Lt. Col. Vladislav Gulov perished. Two

Russian helicopters were reportedly destroyed. They were Ka-52, a type that has

suffered severe losses during the Ukrainian war. The first one was destroyed by

Dnipro AA rocket brigade on Sunday, December 4. The Russian crew made a fatal

mistake to fly at fairly high altitude. After

the rocket hit, they exploded and had no

chance for survival. The kill was captured

on video which also showed the second

Russian helicopter which however flew

significantly lower and therefore escaped

the fire.

Another Ka-52 bort number “yellow

23” was hit on Monday, December 20. It

supposedly fell victim to the Pancir-S1

system’s friendly fire. In this case however the crew survived. Yet another video surfaced showing the destruction of

the third Ka-52. It seems to date back to

March from the vicinity of Kiev and captured the helicopter after its emergency

landing which the Russian soldiers blew

up rather than let it be captured by the

Ukrainian troops. Besides these helicopter losses the aforementioned Tu-95

and T-22M were damaged at the strategic

bombers’ bases. On Sunday, December 4

south of Bachmut a Su-24M, bort number

“blue 48” and marking RF-93798 was destroyed. Both pilots, the Wagner’s Group

mercenaries, were killed.

Helicopter losses

During our reporting period both sides

claimed several enemy aircraft shot down

but visually confirmed were only couple

of them. It is possible that more of them

will be confirmed later as it happened during the preceding months. All confirmed

kills were related to the troops support

at the frontline, mainly in Bachmut area.

Two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters were lost.

February 2023

The Russian Defense Ministry has published a series of photos of soldiers with the Mi-8 helicopter.

INFO Eduard

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