A recent exhibition showcased the latest Ukrainian smart air-launched munition — a small-sized aerial bomb apparently printed using additive manufacturing and equipped with a rocket engine. It has already been tested in combat.
On Sunday, an entirely new and previously unknown product was presented to President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during an exhibition of Ukraine’s latest defence developments. This is particularly noteworthy as it is most likely an indigenous small-sized guided aerial bomb.
Footage from the event shows a munition that strongly resembles the MAM-L smart micro munition developed by Turkey’s Roketsan for use with the Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicle. While the Ukrainian bomb appears to share the same stabiliser and control surface layout as its Turkish counterpart, it also has some distinct features.
The Ukrainian bomb has a protruding component on its upper side, which is most likely a special mount for the aircraft or UCAV rail launcher. A similar fixture can be seen on the MAM-L.
The poor lighting prevents a clear view of the nose section of the munition, but it appears to contain a semi-active laser seeker, which again echoes the design of the MAM-L. At the rear, however, there is an additional element not present on the Turkish bomb, the purpose of which is unclear.
Most notably, the Ukrainian munition appears to have been produced using 3D printing, as indicated by the visible texture on its body and stabilisers.
In contrast, the MAM-L is made of metal, so it is unclear why Ukrainian engineers chose this manufacturing method. Nevertheless, this approach greatly simplifies the process, leaving the guidance system as the weapon’s most sophisticated and costly component.
Taken together, these features suggest that the new bomb is intended for deployment from strike drones, such as the Bayraktar TB2, in a similar manner to the MAM-L.
For now, however, this remains only an educated guess. In practice, the product unveiled at the exhibition could serve a different role or possess other capabilities. Nevertheless, its strong external resemblance to the MAM-L lends weight to this interpretation.
Earlier, Defence Express revealed another development on Sunday, 24 August, when Ukraine finally unveiled the Long Neptune, a 1,000 km-range missile that has long been known to exist but has never been shown to the public.
