Ukrainian Su-25 Seen Armed with AASM Hammer Bombs in Video for the First Time
The Ukrainian Su-25s started using the French-made AASM Hammer guided bombs in June 2024, as the stocks of Soviet-made unguided munitions were depleted and Western ones started dwindling.
A new video showing the Ukrainian Su-25 Frogfoot in action, posted online on Jan. 1, 2025, shows for the first time the Soviet-mad close air support aircraft employing the French-made AASM Hammer guided bomb. Ukraine reportedly started employing the Western munition on the aircraft in June 2024, as the stocks of Soviet-made unguided munitions were depleted and Western ones started dwindling.
The Su-25’s new Western weapon
The video shows the Su-25 flying at low altitude, before beginning a pop-up attack and climbing to loft two 250 kg Hammers. The loft maneuver is intended to increase the range of the weapons, which is usually reduced when launched from low altitude.
As can be seen, the video is recorded by an action camera installed under the outer-most pylon of the aircraft, although it is not clear when this was recorded. The framing also allows to get a good view of the modified pylon used to carry the French-made bomb, which appears to be the same used on the MiG-29.
In fact, Ukraine has been using the AASM Hammer for a year now, with the first photos emerged online in March 2024. So far, however, the only platforms which were confirmed to use the weapon were the MiG-29 and the Su-27.
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The Su-25 also employs another Western munition, the Zuni 5-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR) loaded in the LAU-10 4-shot rocket pods. The weapon has been in use since early 2023, when it started replacing Soviet-era S-8 80mm unguided rockets, which are already depleted due to their continued use.
However, the Zuni’s stocks might also be depleted. In fact, the Ukrainian website Militarnyi reported in June 2024 that the Zuni’s “reserves are over” and, “in order to leave the Su-25 in service, the Ukrainian military adapted them for use [of] the French AASM HAMMER aircraft bombs.”
The info was also confirmed by Serhii Holubtsov, Chief of Aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force. “Our Su-25 aircraft are also being upgraded, and now they can already use bombs that have a solid rocket motor. They are called HAMMER, we use them, and very successfully,” said Holubtsov.
The AASM Hammer
The AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire “Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range”) is a kit, consisting of a nose guidance section and a tail range extension kit, that can be applied to 250 kg and 1000 kg bombs (125 kg and 500 kg variants are under consideration). The kit is offered in three variants: inertial and GPS guidance, GPS, inertial and laser guidance, and SBU-64 GPS, inertial, and infrared guidance.
France had committed to providing 600 AASM bomb kits to Ukraine in 2024, at a rate of 50 per month starting in January. The manufacturer Safran has also increased production capacity to 90 kits per month.
The munition can be employed day or night, under all weather conditions, at stand-off ranges which can reach over 70 km when launched from high altitude. The AASM can also be employed effectively at low altitude (with Safran saying it can still reach stand-off ranges) and highly off-axis respect to the target, and has the ability to perform precision vertical strikes, much like many missiles’ top-down attack capability. It has a solid-fuel rocket motor in the tail to propel the bomb.
The weapon has been fully integrated on the Rafale, while it has been integrated as stand-alone system on the Mirage 2000, Mirage F1 and F-16. Because of this, it was expected that the AASM would be used by the F-16 delivered to Ukraine. Instead, the weapon is being already employed by the MiG-29, Su-27 and Su-25 while the F-16 is performing air defense duties.
French officials mentioned in March 2024 that the AASM was being integrated on the F-16s before their delivery to Ukraine. The bomb is expected to perform better when used by the Viper (as the F-16 is nicknamed by the crews), as its Western avionics make the integration and use of the AASM easier compared to the Soviet-era jets.
Should the weapon not be used on the F-16, however, there is another aircraft that might soon join Ukrainian ranks and can also use the AASM: the Mirage 2000. In fact, French President Macron said in June 2024 that an unspecified number of Dassault Mirage 2000-5 fighters is set to be transferred to Ukraine.