Russia has unveiled a new unguided "dumb" rocket, kitted out with a cluster warhead to scatter a wide area with submunitions as Moscow looks to improve its military capabilities in the face of Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive.
The S-8KL is the latest in a line of 80mm aircraft rockets originally developed in the 1970s, according to military expert David Hambling.
It can be launched from "all major types of helicopters and combat aircraft" in Russia's air force, Russian state news outlet Sputnik reported. The new rocket was unveiled during Russia's "Army-2023" forum this week.
Russia has produced the S-8 series of small rockets for decades, said Ian Williams, deputy director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The S-8 rocket series travel at a speed of 600 meters per second, according to Russian state military exporter, Rosoboronexport.
There is scant information available about the new rockets, Williams told Newsweek. This newest version swaps a single warhead for a cluster munition with several smaller warheads, Hambling said. "These rockets are usually fired in salvoes of 14 or 40 rockets, so a salvo would scatter an area with a lot of submunitions," he added.
There will likely be a small number of cluster munitions on each rocket, but they are typically carried in large numbers, Williams told Newsweek.
During the "Army-2023" forum, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow's "military-industrial complex not only quickly adapted to work in conditions of severe sanctions pressure, but also increased many of its capacities."
Both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions in the ongoing war, which can be an extremely effective weapon, particularly against infantry forces, but can pose a danger to civilians.
A controversial weapon, cluster bombs have been banned in more than 120 countries, although they are not forbidden under international law, U.K. news outlet the Independent reported. One issue that has led to the bans is that many of the submunitions do not explode on impact and some unexploded warheads have killed civilians many years after they were deployed.
In early July, the U.S. said it was supplying dual-purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICM) to Ukraine—these are a form of cluster bomb. The last time American forces used the weapons in battle was in Iraq in 2003.
Cluster munitions are "very useful for clearing out large numbers of infantry," Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, previously told Newsweek.
Ukrainian troops will be able to inflict more damage on Russian troops with the same number of strikes, Hambling said in early July.
Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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