Cluster munitions are dangerous weapons. Basically, a cluster warhead releases a bunch of bomblets in the air, which cover a larger area. Cluster munitions can be aerial bombs, artillery shells, missiles and rockets. Ukraine is using cluster munitions to defend itself against the Russian invasion and Russia has been using them since the very beginning too. However, now Russia is preparing a very nasty weapon for Ukraine.
Mi-24 is one of many aircraft that can fire S-8KL missiles. Image credit: Wikimedia
Cluster munitions have a very bad reputation now and many countries are choosing to ban them under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The issue with cluster munitions is that they are dangerous to civilians. Some bomblets do not explode and remain active and dangerous for many years after the war. However, neither Ukraine nor Russia have signed that convention.
They still need to use cluster munitions reasonably carefully to minimize the damage to the civilian population. And that is why the new Russian unguided rocket S-8KL is so nasty. It is not that precise – it can’t be, because the standard S-8, which has been in service since 1984, is not. The S-8KL, which is just an S-8 with a cluster warhead, was presented this year and now Russia has some very ambitious plans for them.
The editor-in-chief of Defense Express Oleg Katkov revealed that the plans of the Russian military industry for 2024 include the production of 10 thousand new S-8KL unguided rockets, of which 5 thousand will be transferred to the temporarily occupied Crimea. Specifically, to Dzhankoy, where a large Russian military base is located.
“This is a new type used by aircraft such as the Su-25, other attack airplanes and attack helicopters. We are talking about an 80 mm caliber cluster rocket, which is a version of the S-8. It was demonstrated only this year. Work on it was completed in 2022,” Katkov noted.
Katkov explained that these rockets have low accuracy. However, that lack of precision might be compensated with cluster warheads.
“This unguided cluster rocket is fired from standard blocks of the B-8 type. Its range has not been announced yet, but it is more than 4 km. The declared weight is 7.7 kg. Moreover, the rocket contains about 20 separate fragmentation-cumulative bomblets,” he said. Basically, if a rocket cannot hit a target precisely, it will cover a larger area destroying everything in it.
The S-8KL will be a nasty weapon. 5 thousand of them in Crimea is terrible news for the defenders of Ukraine. However, Russian aircraft find it hard to come this close to the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Also, maybe Ukrainians will manage to destroy a lot of these rockets right where they will be based.
Written by Povilas M.