Russia will start serial production of new "Drel" cluster bomb this year - Reuters
Russia has announced plans to mass produce a new "Drel" cruise bomb in 2024.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to Reuters.
"Today, the products have passed all kinds of tests. The production of the first batch of the "Drel" aerial bomb is planned for 2024," the Russian TASS agency quotes the anonymous state defense conglomerate Rostekh as saying.
The bombs can fly independently, using a planned flight path, to a target at a greater distance and explode above it at the "right moment", TASS notes.
The creation of a new aerial bomb was first announced in 2016. It is noted that the "Drel" planning aerial bomb is intended for attacks on armored vehicles, ground radar stations, control points of power plants, and anti-aircraft missile systems.
The bombs are supposedly resistant to jamming and radar detection, making them difficult to destroy.
Russian and Western sources claim that "Drel" is a type of cluster bomb. They usually release many smaller bombs that can kill indiscriminately over a large area. Those that don't explode can pose a hazard for decades.
The Russian news agency TASS, with reference to a representative of Rostekh, said that information about the use of bombs in the war against Ukraine is confidential.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said last July that Russia would use cluster bombs in Ukraine if necessary.
