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Powerful Russian super bomb FAB-3000 0
(Dan Tri) – Russia’s restart of production of the FAB-3000 heavy bomb has recently attracted the attention of the international community.
Su-34 multi-purpose fighter bomber (Photo: Russian Air Force).
Is the FAB-3000 comparable to a tactical nuclear weapon?
As the Russia-Ukraine conflict enters its third year, warnings continue to emerge from the West that NATO and Russia could go to war.
In such a context, Russia’s recent restart of production of the FAB-3000 heavy bomb has attracted attention.
However, Western media have a different view, some exaggerate the level of danger, while others say it is a `stupid smart bomb` and advise the Ukrainian army `not to be afraid`.
Chinese military experts say that although the power of the FAB-3000 bomb cannot be compared to tactical nuclear weapons, it will also cause `psychological deterrence` for the Ukrainian army.
Russian website Topwar reported on March 26 that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu recently inspected the defense industrial production complex in Nizhny Novgorod, Western Russia.
According to information, the total output of weapons at the factory has increased 5 times compared to last year.
Continued production of the FAB-3000 heavy bomb, designed to attack important and complex protected targets such as bridges over the Dnieper River.
`Now we can hope that in the near future this type of bomb will be delivered and used as part of special military operations,` Minister Sergei Shoigu said.
According to information, FAB-3000 is a conventional aviation bomb, with high destructive power, free-drop, designed to destroy human resources in open areas and underground tunnels, assembly areas, and fortifications.
The characteristics of the FAB-3000 bomb are clear: The bomb body is relatively short, the bomb wings and stabilizing ring are installed in the tail.
The bomb has a complex shape, consisting of many conical blocks, the thickness of the front shield is increased to penetrate the ground.
The bomb is about 3.3m long, body diameter 820mm, wingspan about 1m.
Depending on the time of production and series of products, TNT explosives or TNT-based mixtures are used.
According to information, this type of bomb can be used by Tu-22M3 long-range bombers and some other aircraft.
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Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber of the Russian Air Force (Photo: TASS).
There is also information that shows that the FAB-3000 bomb can be used by Su-34 bombers, but the ability will be limited because each aircraft can only carry one bomb in a sortie.
Bombs can be dropped at the aircraft’s maximum speed of 1,200km/h and at an altitude of 16,000m.
According to Bulgaria Military, FAB-3000 is not the largest bomb in Russia’s bomb arsenal. Moscow also has FAB-5000 and FAB-9000 with weights of 5 tons and 9 tons respectively.
The American magazine Forbes said that the FAB-3000 bomb will likely be equipped with UMPK modules (universal guidance and adjustment system).
How great is the damage of the FAB-3000 bomb?
Compared to previous aviation bombs used by the Russian military, it can be seen that the biggest feature of the FAB-3000 bomb is that it is stronger, some even say that the power is `comparable to weapons`.
According to Bulgaria Military information, the `explosion radius` of the FAB-3000 is expected to be nearly 900m, which can cause widespread damage.
However, information provided by the Russian site Topwar shows that this bomb is not that powerful.
Another comparative data is that according to information on the US Military Review site, Russia’s 500kg bomb has a radius of 140m to destroy exposed vital targets.
Chinese military expert Truong Tuyet Phong told Hoan Cau newspaper reporters that saying that the FAB-3000 can be compared to tactical nuclear weapons is clearly an exaggeration.
The explosive power of tactical nuclear weapons ranges from a few hundred tons to tens of thousands of tons of TNT explosives, so the power of tactical nuclear weapons cannot be compared with the FAB-3000 bomb, when there is only 1
However, the advantage of the FAB-3000 is that it can actually be used in combat, while the role of a tactical nuclear weapon is more about deterrence.
However, expert Truong Tuyet Phong believes that FAB-3000 will not be produced and used too much in the future.
The large size and weight of the FAB-3000 limited its application as it could only be used in certain situations; a Tu-22M3 bomber could only carry three bombs such as
Furthermore, if you want to use it effectively, it is best to install the UMPK module.
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FAB-3000 bomb production line at a Russian factory (Photo: Russian Defense Ministry).
Russia’s `game-changing weapon`.
Since the beginning of this year, the Russian army has used a large number of FAB heavy bombs equipped with UMPK modules on the Ukrainian battlefield.
After adding the UMPK guidance kit, these free-fall bombs can be turned into cheap, high-precision long-range weapons;
This is one of the important bases for the outside world to pay attention to Russia’s continued production of the FAB-3000 bomb.
However, the Western media’s attitude towards FAB-3000 is more complex.
Also according to Forbes, Russia’s Su-34 fighter-bomber can flatten Ukrainian positions without having to fly into the target area to drop bombs, using UMPK guided glide bombs.
Glide bombing is now the standard tactic of the Russian tactical air force, with more than a hundred glide bombs attacking eastern Ukraine every day and forcing the Ukrainian army to withdraw from Avdiivka in mid-February.
Soldiers from Ukraine’s 3rd Azov Assault Brigade, the unit tasked with covering the retreat of defenders from Avdiivka, said the bombs `completely destroyed all positions`.
The group `Ukrainian Conflict Intelligence` concluded: `Russian bombs are too powerful to attack Ukrainian positions.`
Chinese expert Truong Tuyet Phong said that if Russia’s trend of using glide-guided bombs on a large scale can continue, these glide bombs will become a weapon that changes the situation on the Russian battlefield.
These bombs are accurate, long-range and cheap, and the addition of a 3-ton guided bomb would provide greater deterrence to the Russian military.