RBK-500U SPBE-K "Drill"

The RBK-500U SPBE-K Drel ["Drill"] planning [gliding] cassette [submunition] bomb is designed for round-the-clock all-weather use without the aircraft entering the zone of action of firing means of target air defense systems and delivering to the target with high accuracy self-targeting combat elements. Ammunition provides for the defeat of armored vehicles, ground-based radars, command posts and power plants of anti-aircraft missile systems with thermal or radar guidance under conditions of natural and man-made interference.

The development of the PBK-500U glider cluster bomb with the self-targeting submunition SPBE-K Drill began in the mid-1990s. Due to a shortage of funds, the project was suspended for a long time and was not restarted until the early 2010s. This type of bomb was originally intended to be put into service later in 2016 and 2019, but it was not implemented due to the lack of a precise system.

It should also be mentioned that Drill is not the first to appear. Prior to this, in the Soviet era, Bazart also developed and mass-produced the cluster bomb RBK-500. They were effectively used during the war in Afghanistan. Its weight and size are almost the same as the size of the drill bit. The content inside is the same-including 15 anti-tank self-guided components. The only problem is that there is no "friend or foe" identifying the transponder.

Planning aerial bomb "Drill" can be programmed for specific targets, which will completely exclude targeting civilian objects. The PBK-500U SPBE-K gliding cluster bomb contains sub-elements, which are made on the principle of high-precision weapons. The striking elements are programmed for specific types of targets - armored vehicles, missile and artillery installations, and completely exclude guidance to civilian objects. When dropping it, the aircraft does not need to enter the enemy's air defense zone, because due to the aerodynamic characteristics of the ammunition, depending on the drop height, can glide for tens of kilometers.

The combat element is equipped with armor-piercing ammunition, capable of penetrating uniform steel armor up to 800-900 mm. In fact, such destructive power is impressive, because in order to destroy a tank, the upper part of the armor does not exceed 100 mm. In this respect, the drill bit is actually not much different from the American Javelin anti-tank complex. In other words, their attack efficiency is the same.

A “drill” after separation from a carrier aircraft can fly to a distance of up to 30 km and deliver 15 combat self-targeting elements to the target area, which will be guided to specific targets by the global GLONASS positioning system. The weight of the newest aviation bombs PBK-500U SPBE-K is about 540 kg, the length of the ammunition reaches three meters. It is assumed that the "Drill" will be dropped from high altitudes and from the stratosphere (in particular, the main combat height of the use of the new ammunition is called 14 km). It is reported that the bomb cassette itself and the self-targeting elements have low radar visibility, which will significantly reduce the possibility of defeating the Drill with anti-aircraft missile and cannon complexes and the enemy's small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery.

The discharge altitude range is from 100 meters to 14 km at a speed of the aircraft carrier from 700 to 1100 km / h. The maximum range of application is about 50 km. It is possible to equip the cassette with BETAB-M concrete-borne striking elements designed for “work”, in particular, along the runways and taxiways of airfields, as well as with a single-block high-explosive warhead.

The cassette is equipped with 15 striking elements of SPBE-K , which have combined guidance systems (infrared and radar), which makes it possible to hit both IR-contrast targets and “cold” targets. The elements have a “friend-foe” identification system , which allows them to be used directly in the contact battle of armored vehicles. One cassette with SPBE-K is capable of disabling, according to various sources, up to six to eight armored vehicles.

The basis of the element SPBE-K is the copper shock core. The characteristics of the SPBE-K were not disclosed, but elements of the previous generation ( SPBE-D ) had a core accelerated to 2000 m / s , and punched up to 70 mm equivalent of homogeneous armor. The possibilities of SPBE-K , according to a number of information, exceed these figures by no less than 1.5 times.

The "Drill" is capable of independently flying the required distance to the target and opening up above it at the right moment. If the striking element did not work on the given target, it will still self-destruct after a certain time and will not pose a danger to the population after the end of hostilities.

The RBK-500U SPBE-K unified planning bomb cassette (Drill) with the possibility of round-the-clock all-weather use (without the aircraft entering the zone of coverage of air defense objects) is intended to destroy armored vehicles, ground-based radar stations and command and control centers. Research and Production Concern “Engineering Technologies” JSC (part of Rostec State Corporation) is a holding company in the field of the industry of ammunition and special chemistry.

The length of the "Drill" is 3100 mm, diameter - 450 mm, weight - 540 kg, the number of combat elements - 15 units, the maximum application height - 14 km, the application range - 30 km. The ammunition is equipped with a GLONASS satellite guidance system, but other types of guidance systems are allowed.

It is a functional analog of JSOW American guided bombs. The unified planning bomb cassette PBC-500U SPBE-K ("Drill") has the possibility of round-the-clock all-weather use. It is assumed that the dumping of the munition will be carried out without entering the aircraft carrier in the zone of destruction of anti-aircraft missile systems and complexes. The planning bomb cassette PBK-500U SPBE-K is designed to destroy armored vehicles, radar radar reconnaissance systems, command and control centers, anti-aircraft missile systems, systems of a potential enemy.

Airborne bomb "Drill" was developed in Russia, its state tests can be completed before the end of the year. This was announced to reporters by the general director of the NGO Basalt, Vladimir Porhachev 07 September 2016. "I hope that this year we will complete state tests. There are no analogues in the world. A bomb without an engine. The range when moving away from the carrier is 30 km. That is, the plane does not enter the air defense defeat zone, drops the product, and it finds the target itself. Navigation is carried out with the help of GLONASS. Her name is “Drill”, ”Porhachev said.

In turn, the general director of the concern "Tehmash" Sergei Rusakov said that the tests of the ammunition will be completed in 2016. NPO "Basalt" specializes in the manufacture of air bombs, ammunition for mortars and artillery, anti-tank grenade launchers. Included in the group of companies "Rostec".

The newest planning bomb cassette "Drill" will be adopted by the Russian Armed Forces in 2018, Vladimir Lepin, general director of the Tekhmash concern, said on 20 February 2017 during a scientific and technical conference on the development of unguided aviation munitions. For the first time, "Tehmash" presented this development in 2015 at the MAKS aerospace show, the ammunition became known as "Drill" at the Army 2016 forum.

“State tests of a new 500 kilogram caliber planning bomb cassette equipped with self-targeting combat elements began in 2016. Government tests are carried out in accordance with the customer’s program, after the successful completion of which in 2018 this product is planned to be put into service,” he said.

The development uses exclusively domestic electronic component base. Drill tests were not only conducted in the country, some samples were even taken to Syria. This was revealed in a video from the Russian Ministry of Defense at the MAKS-2021 Aerospace Forum held in Zhukovsky on the outskirts of Moscow. Correspondingly, an airplane dropped a bomb, and the bomb flew up and hovered at a distance of 30 kilometers. When it reached a target group, it was divided into countless sub-bombs, forming a sea of flames on the ground.

On 11 May 2021, the Interfax news agency reported that the Drill munition had successfully completed tests. "The test results confirmed the combat effectiveness of the Drill aerial bomb. The purchases are planned in accordance with the state defense order for 2021 and for the planning period of 2022-2023," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said in an interview with Interfax.

But as of August 2021, according to the executive director of the NPK Tekhmash JSC (part of the Technodinamika holding of the Rostec state corporation) Alexander Kochkin, it was planned to complete the tests in 2022, and from 2023 to begin mass production of ammunition. It should be apparent to even the casual observer that this project was at that point running six years behind schedule, for unspecified reasons.