On June 15, 2024, one high-explosive bomb was found outside Arkhangelskoye village and one outside Tseplyaevo-Vtoroye village, another two HE bombs fell near Belyanka village. Another HE bomb was found near a residential building in Malomikhaylovka village, residents of Korolev Street were evacuated, as reported by ASTRA sources in the region’s emergency services. All the villages are located in the Shebekinsky urban district.
ASTRA asked founder of the Conflict Intelligence Team Ruslan Leviev why Russian HE bombs keep falling on Russia.
“The reasons are not entirely clear to us, because similar Western weapons do not have this problem. Moreover, this problem has existed since the beginning of the use of UMPKs (Universal Gliding and Correction Modules, which are fitted on HE bombs to make them glide instead of falling freely, – ASTRA note) and does not seem to have been fundamentally solved. In general, we believe that the “accidental releases” are caused by UMPK’s lack of reliability, which Russian Aerospace Forces are apparently O.K. with. According to our estimate, quite a small share of bombs falls [accidentally], perhaps a few percent, so the problem under discussion does not affect the practical efficiency of this weapon. One of our working hypotheses for the specific mechanism of this abnormal operation was poor quality of the pyro charges that should open the wings, but we do not exclude other reasons, either mechanical or electronics-related, as well as defects in either design or workmanship. Because one needs to understand that, unlike Western precision-guided munitions, UMPKs are made for relatively little money in large quantities using civilian electronics (having lower reliability specifications). However, this can periodically lead to serious incidents and human casualties on the ground. For example, the hit private house in the Belgorod region and the collapsed section of an apartment block in Belgorod itself. In our opinion, the likeliest cause of the tragedy was a faulty UMPK HE bomb,” Leviev told ASTRA.
