First Look At Mystery Weapon Pylon Ukrainian MiG-29s Use To Carry Small Diameter Bombs
THE WARZONE
7 min read
A new picture offering the best look to date at a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter armed with GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs has disclosed the use of a special pylon with a mysterious feature in front.
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A picture offering the best look to date at U.S.-made GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) loaded on a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter, seen at the top of this story and below, has emerged. The image also shows the use of a special pylon with what may be a white-colored antenna or sensor, which might be tied to an electronic countermeasures system, to hang the four-bomb SDB racks under the MiG-29’s wing.
When or where the picture of the GBU-39/B-armed MiG-29 was taken is unknown. Three SDBs are visible loaded on a standard BRU-61/A rack, which is designed to hold up to four of these 250-pound-class weapons. The image looks to have been first posted online earlier today by a user with the handle @air_winged on the Telegram social media network.
@air_winged via X
The Ukrainian military first disclosed it had begun employing air-launched SDBs in May. Prior to that, Ukraine was only known to have received Ground Launched SDBs (GLSDB). That weapon system appears to have performed poorly in combat, at least initially, and it is not clear to what extent it remains in service. Air-launched SDBs have been previously observed under the wings of MiG-29s. There have been claims that Ukraine’s Su-27 Flankers are also carrying these bombs, but, while plausible, pictures claiming to show this are at best unclear.
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First images of a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum operationally flying with US-supplied and integrated GBU-39 SDB precision glide bombs.
Appears to be carrying four SDBs, under a pair of underwing BRU-61 carriages. pic.twitter.com/Q4KphGlUVf
Based on the paint scheme worn by the jet in the newly emerged picture, it appears to be one of the 13 Fulcrums Ukraine received from Slovakia last year. In the mid-2000s. the Russian Aircraft Corporation-MiG (RAC MiG), in cooperation with Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, integrated a unique upgrade package onto these jets that included enhanced avionics, communications gear, navigation systems, and more.
The MiG-29AS (and two-seat MiG-29UBS equivalent) is a Slovakian upgrade by RSK MiG, together with Rockwell Collins and BAE Systems. New IFF, radio, VOR/ILS, TACAN. Some new Russian cockpit kit and ‘digital’ camouflage. Ten single-seaters and a pair of two-seaters completed. /26 pic.twitter.com/rBYCw5cB1f
In Slovakian service, the upgraded MiG-29s continued to use standard pylons making the one seen on the SDB-armed example now flying for Ukraine something of a mystery. At the most basic level, some kind of adapter is clearly necessary to mate the BRU-61/A to the hardpoint under the Fulcrum’s wing. Similar arrangements have been seen on other Ukrainian combat jets as part of the integration of other Western missiles and precision-guided bombs. That integration work is also known to make use of iPads, or similar tablets-like devices, mounted in the cockpit to actually employ the weapons, as you can read more about here.
Ukrainian MiG-29/Su-27 were modified over two years to carrying various Western ammunition.
Then there is the matter of the fairing at the front of the pylon, the purpose of which is unknown. Ukrainian MiG-29s and Su-27s do use special pylons to carry larger Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) glide bombs that have tapered protrusions in front with black-colored antenna/sensors, emitters, or at least an aperture to accommodate one of them, at the tip. However, the protrusions on those pylons extend well forward of where the weapon is attached and out from under the aircraft’s wing. The War Zone has previously assessed this is mostly likely tied to the cueing of the GPS-assisted guidance systems on the JDAM-ERs before launch. The SDBs also use GPS-assisted guidance (some later versions also have a laser-guided mode), so the fairing on the pylon might have a similar function, but its position more underneath the wing seems less optimal for this purpose, which would require a good line of sight to satellites in space.
A good look at the pylon Ukrainian combat jets use to employ the JDAM-ER, seen here under the wing of a MiG-29. via Xvia X
There is also the potential then that the fairing could be an antenna or sensor, and part of a larger electronic countermeasures or electronic support measures system. The War Zonehas highlighted in the past how giving Ukraine’s combat jets additional self-protection capabilities would be highly desirable given the Russian air defense threats they face on a daily basis. Such a system might also be able to help with actively targeting hostile air defense or electronic warfare systems.
US Air Force SDBs fitted with home-on-jam seekers. USAF GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) with home-on-GPS-jam seekers that were employed in the December 2020 Golden Horde test. USAF
Previous statements from U.S. officials have indicated that the GLSDBs were particularly impacted by Russia’s GPS jammers, though air-launched examples have reportedly proven to be more resilient. The SDB, in general, has offered Ukraine an important new way to strike targets at stand-off ranges of up to around 46 miles with high accuracy. The bombs also have the ability to penetrate semi-hardened static targets and there are significant stocks of the weapons that can be drawn on among NATO allies.
An SDB seen right before hitting a mock hardened aircraft shelter during a test. USAF
The need for stand-off range in the face of serious air defense threats on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine has made glide bombs of various types increasingly the go-to weapons for the Ukrainian and Russian air forces. Russia has just recently begun employing a massive 6,000-pound-class type based around the FAB-3000 unguided bomb and has also been making use of a smaller design commonly referred to as UMPB D-30SN that is similar in some very broad respects to the SDB.
russian killers announced the launch of the super-powerful FAB3000 in Ukraine. Thanks to Biden and his insane ban on attacking russian airports, they can launch from just behind the front lines. If this bomb falls on a hospital or supermarket, both favorite targets of russian… pic.twitter.com/1xbyUrVgZr
Another photo, uploaded on the same Telegram channel yesterday, showing an UMPB D-30SN affixed to a rack on the inboard port wing station of a VKS Su-34. https://t.co/NGaxlwE9S1pic.twitter.com/zlbEOyars3
As with the pylon Ukrainian MiG-29s and Su-27s use to carry JDAM-ERs, more insights into the one with the mystery fairing that has now been observed in combination with SDBs on their special four bomb rack, may emerge in the future.
