Click to see full-size image. Via Twitter.
Kiev forces have reportedly begun using Bonus artillery cluster rounds against Russian troops in the special military operation zone in Ukraine.
On January 4, Russian sources shared photos showing an undetonated submunition of a Bonus round that was found on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The cluster round was jointly developed by Bofors of Sweden and Nexter of France to provide a long-range, indirect fire, top attack capability against armoured vehicles. The development began in 1985 and the round entered production in the early 1990s.
The Bonus is a 155 mm NATO artillery round that consists of a 47-kilogram heavy artillery projectile containing two autonomous, sensor-fused, fire-and-forget submunitions.
After the submunition is released it opens two winglets. While descending, the submunition rotates, scanning the area below with multi-frequency infrared sensors and LiDAR [laser imaging, detection, and ranging] that compares the detected vehicles with a programmable target database.
When fired from a 52-caliber barrel, a Bonus round can travel up to 35 kilometers before releasing its submunitions. Each submunition is armed with a powerful explosively formed penetrator warhead that is effective against heavy armoured fighting vehicles like main battle tanks.
Click to see full-size image. Via Twitter.
Ukraine may have received the Bonus system directly from Sweden and France or from other operators like Norway and Finland, who purchased the round in recent years.
It’s worth noting, that Kiev forces have been already documented using German-made SMArt 155 mm cluster rounds which follow a similar concept. Unlike the Bonus, the submunitions of the SMArt descends on a parachute rather than winglets, and use a millimeter radar for terminal guidance instead of a LiDAR.
The United States and its allies supplied Ukraine with hundreds of NATO-standard 155 mm howitzers after the start of the Russian special operation, which allows Kiev to deploy rounds like the Bouns and SMArt with ease.
Despite receiving much support from its allies, Kiev forces are still struggling to keep up with the sheer fire power of the Russian artillery.
