Russian ODAB-500P bomb targets Ukrainian forces near dam
Ukrainian electronic warfare systems are not operating in the Belgorod region, which allows Russia to perform precise attacks, reports the Ukrainian agency Unian. In one such attack, the Russian army used an ODAB-500P bomb.
Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, which effectively disrupt the navigation signals of Russian bombs, are not functioning in the Belgorod region. According to Unian, for this reason, in recent days, a Russian fighter jet managed to conduct a precise attack on a dam near Popovka, where Ukrainian forces are carrying out offensive operations.
ODAB-500P bomb fell on Russian territory
In one of these attacks in the Russian Belgorod region, the Russians used an ODAB-500P bomb. This type of ammunition disperses a flammable aerosol and then ignites it. David Axe, an analyst at Forbes, notes that using this bomb to destroy a dam is unusual because its thermobaric effect is more destructive to people than to infrastructure.
It is noteworthy that the Russian ODAB-500P bomb essentially fell on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, the target of the attack was Ukrainian troops located near the dam. The use of this specific ammunition, as reported by Unian, may also suggest that the Russians did not intend to damage infrastructure but to inflict casualties on forces. Unfortunately, Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, which protect against such bombs, did not function near Belgorod, allowing a precise hit.
ODAB-500P bomb
Let's clarify that the ODAB-500P is an advancement of the ODAB-500, a Soviet fuel-air bomb introduced in the 1970s. Inside the ODAB-500 (weighing about 400 kilograms), there is nearly 100 kilograms of ethylene oxide. However, this basic version of the ammunition is characterized by very low reliability. For this reason, the ODAB-500 was replaced with the newer generation ODAB-500P.
The variant with the "P" designation contains just under 150 kilograms of piperylene and seven charges of solid explosive material within its body. The explosion of the latter creates a fuel-air cloud, whose detonation is initiated by an additional detonator. The liquid explosive material allowed the ODAB-500P to achieve an impact effectiveness three times greater than that of a conventional bomb weighing 500 kilograms (which is typical for the ODAB-500P).
