Watch this video: did a Russian Su-24 Fencer drop a cluster bomb over Aleppo?

Is it a cluster bomb, illumination flares or something else?

The following video shows a Su-24 Fencer (a Russian Air Force one based on reports) dropping *something* on Aleppo.

Since these shouldn’t be illumination flares that do not burst but burn for a few minutes and whose use in daylight conditions it’s at least weird, the one depicted in the footage appears to be the series of exploding cartridges of a cluster bomb.

Watch by yourself:

In particular, according to some of our readers, these could be submunitions of an RBK-250 or 500 cluster bomb.

Once ejected from the RBK container incendiary ZAB-2.5 fall down burning. In this case, there is only a quick mid-air burst that could be the visual effect of the ignition of the ZAB 2.5Ms rocket: once accelerated by the rocket, the submunitions can penetrate in the ground and then explode (from 0 to several minutes after the impact).

@TheAviationist These are ZAB 2.5M submunitions of RBK-500 CLUSTER BOMBs.

— Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) 4 Ottobre 2015

However, there is no evident sign of impact of the incendiary submunitions with the ground, therefore it could be a cluster bomb for anti-personnel shrapnels or flechettes (or something else, like mines or even leaflets). Any other guess?

@TheAviationist Dropped leaflets? pic.twitter.com/guwd5z0hWh — JB Hilterman (@JB_Hilterman) 4 Ottobre 2015

H/T @JulianRoepcke for discovering this video and @BabakTaghvaee for the analysis

Related articles

• Extremely clear footage of Syrian Su-24 Fencer attack plane over Idlib
• New video may show Russian Il-78 tanker escorted by Su-24 Fencer jets over Syria today
• New Satellite Image unveils an impressive line-up of 12 Russian Su-25 Frogfoot attack jets in Syria!
• Impressive images of a Syrian Su-24 attack plane shot down by anti-aircraft fire
• Amazing video brings you aboard Russian Su-24 Fencer attack plane during bombing mission
• [Video] Low level flying Syrian Su-24 Fencer trailing smoke
• Here’s the latest ultra-low level Russian Su-24 Fencer flyby

About David Cenciotti

WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram

David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.