Ukraine announced this Tuesday, May 19, the commissioning of the Vyrivniuvach, its first locally designed guided glide bomb. Less expensive than the American models, compatible with the future F-16 and Mirage, it illustrates the rise in industrial power of Kyiv in a war dominated by remote strikes.
On May 19, 2026, Ukraine formalized the commissioning of the Vyrivniuvach (“Equalizer”), the first guided glide bomb of national design, developed by DG Industry with the Brave1 platform and announced as ready to be used in combat. According to Business Insider and several Ukrainian media, this 250 kg ammunition would cost around three times less than the American JDAM‒ER kit already used by the Ukrainian Air Force.
This “homemade” guided glide bomb is a munition dropped by an aircraft, equipped with wings and guidance systems allowing it to glide over several tens of kilometers before reaching its target, often out of immediate range of opposing defenses.
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According to data revealed to Business Insider by DG Industry via the Brave1 platform, the Vyrivniuvach was developed “from scratch”, without adaptation of Soviet or Western models, and has completed “all required testing”, which opens the path to operational deployment. The developers highlight the use of modern guidance algorithms, a capacity for use day and night, in all weathers, and preparation time not exceeding thirty minutes.
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Compatible with F-16s and Mirages
According to a Brave1 representative, the Vyrivniuvach would cost around three times less than the American Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range (JDAM – ER) kit, information reported by United24. Washington at the same time approved a new potential sale of JDAM‒ER kits to Kyiv for an amount estimated at $373.6 million, highlighting the budgetary weight of this type of precision ammunition. The “Equalizer” is designed to be compatible with current Ukrainian aircraft and could be integrated into future American F‒16 and French Mirage, subject to additional certifications.
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Since 2022, the Russians and Ukrainians have massively used guided glide bombs, with Moscow transforming old Soviet munitions into modern KABs, sometimes weighing several tons, dropped from a safe distance out of reach of Ukrainian defenses. These munitions, difficult to intercept due to their weak radar signature and non-ballistic trajectories, have become a central element of the conflict.
For Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the Vyrivniuvach is a “proprietary solution” intended to strike tens of kilometers behind the front line, in a context where Kyiv claims a defense production potential exceeding 35 billion dollars and aims to offer NATO compatible systems to cost controlled.
