Military

Meet Russian 'Bunker Buster' Bombs That Can Obliterate Hardest of Targets

New Russian Su-30SM2 multirole fighter aircraft have recently been caught on video deploying bunker buster bombs in the Ukrainian conflict zone.
Sputnik
Compared to its predecessor Su-30SM, the new Su-30SM2 features more advanced weaponry and radar systems, which effectively allows the aircraft to detect and engage targets at twice the distance of its predecessor.
While it is not immediately clear exactly what bunker buster bomb was deployed by the Su-30SM2s, Russia's arsenal currently includes several kinds of this type of munition.
BetAB-500 is a 500-kilogram concrete-piercing bomb that can penetrate reinforced concrete up to 1 meter thick covered by a layer of up to 3 meters of ground.
BetAB-500ShP is essentially a modification of the BETAB-500. This bomb is equipped with a parachute that helps stabilize the munition after launch as it glides in a position to attack. Once there, a rocket engine inside the bomb’s hull ignites and propels the munition towards its intended target.
RBK-500U BetAB-M is a cluster concrete-piercing bomb. Each such munition contains 10 concrete-piercing submunitions equipped with the same parachute-rocket engine combination as the BetAB-500Shp.
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Concrete-piercing bombs are usually employed to destroy bunkers and structures made of reinforced concrete such as hardened aircraft shelters, runways, dams and bridges.
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