Munitions

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb

Also known as
  • KAB 20
  • KAB-20S
  • KAB-20L
  • KB-20
  • КАБ-20
  • КАБ-20С
  • КАБ-20Л

KAB-20 is a Russian 20 kg-class guided aerial bomb family developed for UAV carriage on aircraft such as Forpost-R/Forpost-RU and Orion. Janes identified the Army 2020 display bombs as TsNIIKhM KB-20 munitions with a 7 kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead and either satellite or laser guidance, while Ukraine-war reporting links KAB-20/KAB-20S weapons to Russian armed-drone strikes and carriage.

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb, 20 kg guided aerial bomb, Munitions
Image source: Army-2020-203.JPG

Role in Conflicts

2014 Russia-Ukraine War
Fire Support
Side
Russia

Russian KAB-20 and KAB-20S bombs are documented in the full-scale Ukraine-war armed-drone context, including Oryx-tracked Forpost-R and Orion strike footage, Russian-state reporting of Forpost-RU KAB-20 drops, and Ukrainian reporting on Forpost aircraft carrying KAB-20S bombs; some video-linked claims remain source-attributed rather than independently confirmed.

Role details
Profile / Specs

Specifications

Weight
20 kg class; commonly reported as 21 kg
Warhead
7 kg high-explosive fragmentation
Length
900 mm
Diameter
130 mm
Fin span
350 mm
Guidance
Satellite receiver or laser guidance unit; KAB-20S and KAB-20L suffixes reported
Intended carriage
Forpost-R/Forpost-RU and Orion-family UAVs
Reported targets
Personnel and soft-skinned targets
Variants

Open sources treat KAB-20 as a small Russian UAV bomb family with guidance-designation suffixes. KAB-20S is reported as the satellite-navigation guided variant, while KAB-20L is reported as the laser-guided variant; public support is stronger for KAB-20S and for the family-level guidance split than for detailed production histories.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
KAB-20SSatellite-navigation guided variant

GlobalSecurity identifies KAB-20S as the satellite-positioning member of the KAB-20 family, and Ukraine-war reporting describes Forpost aircraft carrying KAB-20S bombs.

Sources: KAB-20 - Russian Bombs, Russian MoD showed Forpost drone armed with KAB-20S bombs

KAB-20LLaser-guided variant

GlobalSecurity identifies KAB-20L as the laser-guided member of the family; Janes' Army 2020 report supports the family-level laser guidance option for the TsNIIKhM KB-20 bomb.

Sources: KAB-20 - Russian Bombs, Army 2020: Kronshtadt unveils small air-launched munitions for UAVs

Carrier UAVs

Open reporting ties KAB-20 to Russian UAV carriage, including Forpost-family displays and Orion-family strike loads.

CarrierCarrier typeCarriage evidence
Forpost, Reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle, Aircraft & UAVsForpostReconnaissance-strike UAV

EDR reported the Forpost-RE mock-up at IDEX 2025 carrying what looked like four KAB-20 guided munitions, UNITED24 reported that Forpost-R can carry KAB-20 aerial bombs, and Ukraine-war reporting describes Forpost aircraft carrying KAB-20S bombs.

Sources: IDEX 2025 - First international appearance for Russian Forpost-RE UAV, Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Rare 7 Million Armed Forpost Drone in High-Altitude Strike, Video, Russian MoD showed Forpost drone armed with KAB-20S bombs

Orion, Medium-altitude long-endurance reconnaissance-strike UAV, Aircraft & UAVsOrionMALE reconnaissance-strike UAV

Oryx described KAB-20 as part of Orion's tentative armed-drone arsenal and captioned a Ukraine-war artillery strike as a KAB-20 munition deployed by a Kronshtadt Orion, while TWZ noted a Russian Ministry of Defence calendar image showing Orion with KAB-20 guided bombs.

Sources: Nascent Capabilities: Russian Armed Drones Over Ukraine, Russia Provides A Glimpse Of Its Orion Drone Executing Combat Trials In Syria

Guidance And Carrier Context

KAB-20 is best read as a UAV-scale guided-bomb family rather than a conventional aircraft bomb. Public sources describe the same compact 20 kg class body with either satellite-navigation or laser-guidance equipment, and the strongest carrier evidence links it to Russian Forpost-family and Orion-family unmanned aircraft.

Guidance split

KAB-20S is reported as the satellite-guided designation, while KAB-20L is reported as the laser-guided designation.

Sources: KAB-20 - Russian Bombs; Army 2020: Kronshtadt unveils small air-launched munitions for UAVs.

Carrier evidence

Forpost-R/Forpost-RU and Orion appear repeatedly in open reporting as the practical UAV carriers for KAB-20-class weapons.

Sources: Nascent Capabilities: Russian Armed Drones Over Ukraine; IDEX 2025 - First international appearance for Russian Forpost-RE UAV.

Timeline

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb Key Events

  1. KB-20 shown with Orion UAV weapons

    Janes reported that Kronshtadt displayed small air-launched UAV weapons at Army 2020, including TsNIIKhM KB-20 guided bombs shown near the Orion UAV.

    Sources: Army 2020: Kronshtadt unveils small air-launched munitions for UAVs

  2. Ukraine-war strike footage cataloged

    Oryx documented Russian armed-drone activity over Ukraine and described KAB-20 use by Forpost-R and Orion in strike footage.

    Sources: Nascent Capabilities: Russian Armed Drones Over Ukraine

  3. Forpost KAB-20S carriage reported

    Focus reported Russian Ministry of Defence footage of a Forpost drone in the Ukraine war carrying two KAB-20S guided bombs.

    Sources: Russian MoD showed Forpost drone armed with KAB-20S bombs

  4. Forpost-RE displayed with KAB-20-like munitions

    EDR reported that the Forpost-RE export mock-up at IDEX 2025 carried four munitions that looked like KAB-20 guided bombs.

    Sources: IDEX 2025 - First international appearance for Russian Forpost-RE UAV

Media

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb Videos

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb Images

KAB-20 guided aerial bomb, 20 kg guided aerial bomb, Munitions - view 1
Source: KAB 20 (36687832875).jpg
KAB-20 guided aerial bomb, 20 kg guided aerial bomb, Munitions - view 2
Source: Army-2020-204.JPG
Related Weapon Systems
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Forpost, Reconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicle, Aircraft & UAVsAircraft & UAVsForpostReconnaissance and strike unmanned aerial vehicleForpost is Russia's license-built and later indigenized derivative of the Israeli IAI Searcher II UAV, used for reconnaissance, target acquisition, artillery-fire adjustment, and in Forpost-R form armed strike missions. Russian forces have used Forpost-family aircraft in Ukraine since the 2014 phase of the war and later employed the Forpost-R as a higher-value reusable UAV for surveillance and precision attack rather than as an expendable one-way drone.
FAB-250 UMPK, 250 kg glide-and-correction bomb, MunitionsMunitionsFAB-250 UMPK250 kg glide-and-correction bombThe FAB-250 UMPK is a Soviet-origin FAB-250 aviation bomb fitted with Russia's UMPK glide-and-correction kit. The conversion gives a 250 kg bomb a pop-out-wing stand-off role, with direct Ukrainian reporting documenting FAB-250 UMPK use in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War and Ukrainian military intelligence tying the kit's frame, wings, SMART control package, Kometa-aided navigation, and UMPK-250 assembly to Russia's wartime guided-bomb production chain.

Sources

Army 2020: Kronshtadt unveils small air-launched munitions for UAVsPublisher: Janes | Note: Supports the Army 2020 display context, TsNIIKhM KB-20 attribution, 21 kg mass, 7 kg HE-FRAG warhead, satellite receiver or laser guidance unit, dimensions, and target set. | Accessed: 2026-07-02KAB-20 - Russian BombsPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports KAB-20S/KAB-20L designation logic, laser versus satellite guidance reporting, Army 2020 and Zapad-2021 context, TsNIIKhM/Ballistika-2 attribution, and Forpost/Orion carriage background. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Nascent Capabilities: Russian Armed Drones Over UkrainePublisher: Oryx | Note: Directly supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War KAB-20 use by documenting Russian Forpost-R and Orion armed-drone strike footage in Ukraine and describing KAB-20 as part of their armed-drone arsenal. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Russian Forpost-RU strike UAVs dropped KAB-20 bombsPublisher: Rossiyskaya Gazeta | Note: Directly supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War KAB-20 use through Russian-state reporting that Forpost-RU strike UAVs used KAB-20 guided bombs against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk border fighting context. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Russian MoD showed Forpost drone armed with KAB-20S bombsPublisher: Focus | Note: Directly supports 2014 Russia-Ukraine War KAB-20S fielding by reporting Russian Ministry of Defence footage of a Forpost drone in Ukraine-war service carrying two KAB-20S guided bombs. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Russia Provides A Glimpse Of Its Orion Drone Executing Combat Trials In SyriaPublisher: TWZ | Note: Supports Orion carriage context by describing a Russian Ministry of Defence calendar image showing Orion with KAB-20 guided bombs; not used as direct KAB-20 Syrian conflict-use support. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Ukrainian Anti-Aircraft Drone Damages Rare russian-Israeli Forpost-R UAV at High AltitudePublisher: Defence-UA | Note: Reports KAB-20S as a Forpost-R loadout and describes it as a Russian semi-active laser-guided bomb with a 21 kg total weight and 7 kg warhead. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Forpost Motherf***er - Ukraine Nails Half-Ton High Altitude Russian DronePublisher: Kyiv Post | Note: Corroborates the Forpost-R and KAB-20S loadout reporting in the same open-source strike context. | Accessed: 2026-07-02KAB-20Publisher: Deagel | Note: Supports the KAB-20's Russian origin, contractor background, intended carriage by Forpost and Orion UAVs, and the reported 20 kg class specification context. | Accessed: 2026-07-02L'UAV russo Orion-E lancia missili e bombe di piccolo calibroPublisher: Analisi Difesa | Note: Supports the KAB-20's 21 kg mass, 7 kg warhead, dimensions, satellite or laser guidance, and Russian development context. | Accessed: 2026-07-02IDEX 2025 - First international appearance for Russian Forpost-RE UAVPublisher: EDR Magazine | Note: Supports the Forpost-RE display showing KAB-20 carriage and the strike-role context for the munition on a Russian UAV. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Ukraine Shoots Down Russian Rare 7 Million Armed Forpost Drone in High-Altitude Strike, VideoPublisher: UNITED24 Media | Note: Supports the Forpost-R carriage context for KAB-20 and the munition's appearance in an armed UAV loadout. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Army-2020-203.JPGPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance page for the main KAB-20 image. | Accessed: 2026-07-02KAB 20 (36687832875).jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance page for the secondary KAB-20 gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-07-02Army-2020-204.JPGPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance page for an additional KAB-20 photo from Army 2020. | Accessed: 2026-07-02