India’s Purchase of Laser Guided Munitions from Russia for Su-30MKI

The Indian Defense Ministry has approved procurement of 240 Precision Guided Munitions at a cost of INR 1254 crores (US$ 197 million) from Russian Rosonboron Exports. 

According to Rosoboronexport, the KAB-1500LG-F-E guided bomb with a laser gyro-stabilized seeker and a HE warhead refers to the precision-guided weapons and is designed to engage stationary ground and surface targets such as rail and highway bridges, military industrial facilities, ships and transport vessels, ammunition depots and railway junctions.

These bombs will be used by Indian Air Force (IAF).  This procurement will address the deficiency of Precision Guided Munitions in the IAF arsenal, besides enhancing the offensive capabilities of the IAF, the defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

The KAB-1500LG-F-E is used singly or in salvo from frontline aircraft (fighter-bombers and attack aircraft) fitted with a laser illumination system or a simple sight to produce pre-targeting data (when a ground designator operator is used).

The KAB-1500LG-F-E has an impact fuse which includes three different delay modes for target attack and it can also be mounted on older aircraft, like the Sukhoi Su-24and the Mikoyan MiG-27.

It is claimed to be the Russian equivalent to USA's Paveway II/Paveway III. The variants of the warheads based on their use are high explosive (LG-F-E), penetrating (LG-Pr-E), fuel-air (LG-OD-E). The munitions are manufactured by JSC Tactical Missiles Corporation (KTRV) based out of Moscow. The bomb was also used for precision airstrikes in Syria.