Mass production of FAB-3000 aerial bombs has begun in Russia
Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense
This sensation instantly spread through the media around the world: Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, after visiting one of the defense enterprises in the Nizhny Novgorod region, made a statement: in Russia production has begun in mass of FAB-3000 aerial bombs.
What exactly is the feeling here?
Let’s figure it out. What is FAB? This is a high explosive aerial bomb. What is 3000? This is the weight of all the ammunition. Almost half of this weight (1200 kg) is explosive. The length of the bomb is more than 3 meters. After its explosion, a crater with a diameter of more than 30 meters and a depth of 15 meters is formed in ordinary soil.
It’s like if four KamAZ trucks were stacked on top of each other, they would completely disappear in that pit.
In reality, the FAB-3000 comes from the USSR. It was put into service in 1946 and was modernized many times. These munitions are intended to destroy industrial, urban and port structures, large fortified targets and powerful fortresses. The continuous destruction radius of the FAB-3000 is up to 50 meters, the fragmentation field when crushing the hull and destroying the target is 260 meters.
The bomb was dropped from bombers and could be dropped from great heights for maximum destructive effect.
Since the FAB-3000 entered service, it has become one of the most powerful weapons in the Soviet Air Force’s arsenal. But they began to “clean the dust from the warehouse” during the assault on Azovstal in Mariupol. Surrendering Ukrainian fighters later admitted that the power of these blows caused many to “go crazy and decide to come out of the dungeons with their hands up.”
In general, before Mariupol, this type of high-explosive bombs weighing 3,000 kilograms were rarely used due to the emergence of more precise and modern means of destruction, such as guided bombs and missiles. This includes the FAB 500, a lightweight version of high-explosive, high-precision bombs.
And now we have a feeling: new versions of the FAB-3000 will be equipped with universal planning and correction modules (UMPC). This will allow targeted attacks to be carried out and, at the same time, it will be possible to adjust the target points of the bombs.
“That is, the planning and correction module is ready for them and now the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be crushed with special power and destructive force,” said military expert Andrei Klintsevich.
But the question is: where exactly will these bombs be dropped from? Experts answer: Tu-22M3 missile carriers and Su-34 bombers can become carriers of such heavy and high-explosive projectiles.
I called an old friend of mine, a defense industry engineer, and asked him why the massive modernization of the FAB-30000 was being launched right now.
– Yes, because we were able to make these more universal planning and correction modules a reality. Well, because great things await our army… We need the most powerful ammunition. But we also have FAB-5000 and FAB-9000…
After a pause, he added in a mocking tone:
– Well, we are preparing a warm welcome for French warriors if Macron sends them to Ukraine.
