The US is developing a new cheap, low-tech, long-range glide bomb to counter Russia’s deployment of thousands of glide bombs to devastating effect in recent months.

The Extended-Range Attack Munition (ERAM) aims to be a low-cost, quick-to-produce air-launched missile with a range of around 460 km, according to a request for information (RFI) first released in January and updated on July 10.

Ukraine is on course to produce 1mn drones this year, which have become the backstay of both armies' military operations, but since the start of this year Russia has taken Soviet-era FAB gravity bombs and strapped wings on them so they can be aimed.

Regular drones can carry up to 50kg of explosives, but the largest Russian glide bombs can carry up to 1,400kg of explosives, able to destroy even the strongest Ukrainian defences.

The new ERAM glide bombs will start at the lower end of the scale: a 225kg class munition equipped with a fragmentation warhead capable of destroying armoured targets.

"This munition is pivotal for accelerating Ukraine’s capability to meet warfighter needs efficiently and effectively and provides an affordable mass weapon to be produced at scale," the update stated.

The criteria for the ERAM include a hit accuracy within 10 metres of a target and the ability to operate GPS effectively even under enemy electronic counter-measures.

This is not the first time that the US has sent Ukraine glide bombs, but as described in bne IntelliNews feature on the drone war, Russia’s superior electronic warfare counter measures made this high-tech US glide bombs useless and they were quickly retired.

The ERAM glide bombs disclosure invites US manufacturers to develop the munition and bids for the contract. The manufacture of the weapon is intended to begin no later than two years after the contract is awarded, with a production target of up to 1,000 units per year.

Like the Russian FAB glide bombs, the ERAM glide bombs have to be launched from planes as they fall as much as fly, and Ukraine’s air force has been depleted during the two years of fighting. Ukraine currently has Soviet-era fighter jets but is waiting for Western-supplied F-16s that are expected to arrive on the battlefield this year.

Currently, the nearest equivalent to ERAM in Kyiv's arsenal is the British- and French-supplied Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles, but their numbers are limited.