In a new milestone for the integration of Western weaponry with Russian/Soviet-origin platforms, the Ukrainian Air Force has announced that its Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighters have begun to be equipped with GBU-39 SDB glide bombs provided by the United States. This news was confirmed through a recent viral video on social media, showing ground crews loading and equipping a Ukrainian combat aircraft. Until now, although the delivery of these bombs to Ukraine had been confirmed, they had only been deployed from MiG-29s.
More than two years into the conflict, the Sukhoi Su-27 remains the main air superiority platform in service with the Ukrainian Air Force. However, unlike the MiG-29, its numbers are more limited, as allied nations did not have stocks of this Russian/Soviet-origin aircraft. Despite this, it has not seen limited use in the theater of operations, with Western-origin weapons from various sources being integrated. One example is the integration of French-made AASM HAMMER guided bombs, confirmed through various images that went viral last April.
The use of Western weaponry on Russian/Soviet-origin platforms remains one of the best-kept secrets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and their Western allies. One example is the compatibility of Su-24 Fencers with SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles, as well as the integration of the GBU-39 SDB on MiG-29s in service with the Ukrainian Air Force.
To this list of armaments provided by European and U.S. allies, the Su-27 must now be added. This confirmation is significant, as the small-diameter bombs (SDBs) have reportedly demonstrated their capability and resistance to Russian electronic countermeasures during support and ground attack missions.
Weighing 250 pounds (or 110 kilograms), the GBU-39 is a small-diameter glide bomb that entered service with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 2006. Depending on the variant, the guidance system can vary, including GPS, inertial, or laser guidance, with ranges exceeding 100 kilometers when launched from the air.
In the observed video, Ukrainian ground crews can be seen loading and transporting GBU-39s to be mounted on the internal wing pylons of a Su-27, although the specific Ukrainian Air Force unit could not be identified. Another relevant detail is that these bombs are mounted on the BRU-61 quadruple rack, which is installed on the aircraft’s original pylon. Additionally, similar to the MiG-29, in this configuration, the Su-27 could carry up to a total of eight GBU-39 bombs.
Lastly, an important observation in the images is the presence of a container equipped with AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, which could lead to several speculations. The most preliminary is the possible confirmation of the transfer of this weaponry by the U.S., and secondly, its integration into Russian/Soviet-origin combat aircraft still in service with the Ukrainian Air Force.
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