KAB-20

The fully Russified and locally produced Forpost-R was demonstrated at the autumn strategic exercises Zapad-2021 with KAB-20 guided bombs, developed by FSUE "TsNIIKhM". The use of heavy adjustable bombs weighing up to half a ton is being practiced on the twin-engine Altius. The smallest in the nomenclature are the KAB-20 bombs. They weigh about 21 kg and carry 7 kg of explosives. Weapons with warheads weighing from 7 to 20 kg are capable of effectively hitting manpower, lightly armored vehicles and undefended structures. In the nearest future Orion will receive these bombs with satellite and laser guidance.

KAB-20 means Korrektiruemaya Aviatsionnaya Bomba or literally ‘corrected aerial bomb’, and the number 20 is the weight of the ammunition in the bomb. It is assumed that the family includes variants of models with different guidance systems, such as laser and satellite positioning, which are considered to be designated as KAB-20L and KAB-20S, respectively, and with different warhead options: demolition, thermobaric, and penetration.

Forpost-R is a Russian unmanned aerial vehicle [UCAV] developed by the Yekaterinburg-based Ural Civil Aviation Plant [Ural’skiy Zavod Grazhdanskoy Aviatsii: UZGA] under license from the Israeli company Israel Aerospace Industries [IAI]. Israel is producing this unmanned aerial vehicle under the name Searcher Mk II. However, since 2016, Israel has refused to supply Russia with components and technological solutions for the production of Forpost-R. The reason: pressure from the United States. After 2016 and Israel’s refusal to remain a major supplier, Moscow was forced to continue developing Forpost-R, but only through local Russian-made components.

At two different exhibitions in the same year [2021] UZGA presented Forpost-R with two different weapon systems – anti-tank guided missiles [ATGM] from the 9M133 family of the 9K135 Kornet system and guided bombs from the KAB-20 family. Both the missiles and the bombs were in pairs.

The bomb is armed with a 7 kg HE warhead and is designed to combat manpower and lightly armored targets. It was presented for the first time at the Army 2020 fair in Kubinka near Moscow. It is carried by Russian Orion and Forpost-R drones (Israeli Searcher Mk II). The Orion drone can carry six KAB-20 bombs suspended on two BD-2-U beams, the Forpost drone carries two bombs on single under-wing suspensions. The development variant of the bomb is the KAB-20S version. The bomb is guided by a laser beam. There are reports of the use of satellite guidance in the thematic press, but no detailed information about this design is available.

At the Army-2020 International Military-Technical Forum, Kronstadt for the first time presented small-sized corrective bombs of the KAB-20 family, specially designed for use from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This is probably the smallest aviation guided munition today. Military-technical cooperation "Bastion" reported that at the International Military-Technical Forum (IMTF) "Army-2020", the Kronstadt Group for the first time presented aviation weapons (ASP) of its own design and a number of other developers. One of the ASP is the corrected aerial bomb KAB-20S. It was stated at the forum that this bomb was created with two options for a control system: satellite and laser. Accordingly, the ammunition was named KAB-20S and KAB-20L. On the plate with explanations, located next to these bombs, it was written that the corrected aerial bomb KAB-20 was created by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "TsNIIKhM". Kronstadt LLC reported that these prototypes were developed as part of the Ballistics-2 research project, with support from 189 air defense units of the RF Ministry of Defense.

The practical use of the bomb was confirmed during the Zapad-2021 maneuvers. It was used in combat for the first time during the Syrian civil war against groups that smuggled Syrian oil from the Tarhin region to Turkey. During Russia's aggression against Ukraine, near the village of Wypovziv in Chernihiv Oblast, it was used to attack a Ukrainian anti-aircraft battery consisting of S-300P missiles.

In February 2021 the Russian MoD released a video of Inokhodets operating from the T4 (Tiyas) airfield, some 185km from Russia's main Syrian base, Khmeimim. In the video, Inokhodets carried four small bombs under its wing. It is difficult to determine their type, as the photos were deliberately blurred, but it is known from other sources that in Syria that Inokhodets dropped 20kg KAB-20 guided bombs. The bomb in the laser-guided KAB-20L and satellite-guided KAB-20S versions were created especially for UAVs by the Central Scientific and Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics in Moscow.

By March 2022 Russian armed forces are reportedly using the Israeli-based Forpost-R drone to launch airstrikes against Ukraine. Russia’s Defence Ministry released a video that showed an armed Forpost-R taking off from an unidentified airstrip. The footage later showed a Ukrainian multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) being destroyed by the UCAV.

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