Russian aviation began using three-ton bombs
MOSCOW, June 25 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. Several videos of strikes on AFU positions with heavy three-ton FAB-3000-M54 aerial bombs have already appeared on social networks. This weapon has not been used before. About what this most powerful weapon of destruction is capable of — in the material of RIA Novosti.
More powerful than rockets
The impact of aviation ammunition or tactical missiles is several times less. This is the main advantage of fabs.
In addition, such ammunition does not need either fuel or a complex guidance system that selects the payload. The whole filling is explosive. And the cast-iron body with notches from the inside is crushed into thousands of sharp fragments during an explosion, capable not only of destroying infantry, but also of disabling military equipment. Buried command posts, field fortifications and temporary accommodation points are being demolished "at once".
A video frame of the FAB-250 application with a unified planning and correction module (UMPC)
Image source: © Russian Ministry of Defense
In the first year of the special military operation "chuguniy" (as these bombs were nicknamed in the troops), they were used only to a limited extent. For example, according to Azovstal in Mariupol, where there were no anti-aircraft missile systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine nearby. After all, in order to drop a free-falling FAB or ODAB on a target, a carrier aircraft must fly over it. In the conditions of an air defense system that was not completely suppressed, this turned into Russian roulette. It was possible to lose a bomber worth millions of dollars.
However, free—falling bombs have been modernized - universal planning and correction modules have been installed on them. UMPC is an analogue of the American JDAM. Roughly speaking, these are folding wings and a guidance unit that turn an ordinary bomb into a precision weapon. She is no longer falling, but is planning, guided by GPS/GLONASS coordinates. It is capable of hitting a target at a distance of up to 80 kilometers from the drop point. As a result, the bombers were able to strike deep without entering the enemy's air defense zone.
Aerial bombs
Image source: © RIA Novosti / RIA Novosti
The new "body kit" was provided by the half-ton FAB-500-M—62, then by the one-and-a-half-ton FAB-1500-M54. They played a crucial role in breaking through the heavily fortified line of defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of Avdiivka. Blows with "cast iron" leveled concreted trenches, easily pierced the floors of dugouts, brought down underground bunkers.
The author of this article saw with his own eyes in Avdiivka a three-meter piece of railway rail stuck in the garden of a private house. It was about 300 meters from the railway track to this place.
The ground is out from under your feet
FAB-3000-M54 was first used in the Kharkov direction, near Lipetsk. In a video posted by several telegram channels, it is clearly visible how a cruise missile fell at the end of a high-rise building where Ukrainian servicemen were stationed. The cloud from the powerful explosion covered the entire neighborhood, and when it dissipated, it became clear that part of the building had collapsed.
In social networks, many noted that the FAB-3000 failed to hit the target accurately. However, this is not required.
"Even if such a "fool" falls 50-70 meters away, it will not seem enough to anyone," explains an officer of the North group with the call sign Athlete. — Everyone who is nearby will lose their hearing due to burst eardrums and will receive severe concussions. This is who will be lucky to escape from the wave of fragments. About half of the mass of the bomb, one and a half tons, falls on the cast-iron body. Large fragments are even capable of bringing down a small building. I am sure that our defense industry will still work on the accuracy of these bombs. UMPK under FAB-3000 is, after all, a new product that has just entered service. The controlled FAB-500 did not immediately hit the target either."
It is worth noting another striking factor — psychological. And with a relatively distant rupture of such ammunition, enemy soldiers literally lose the ground from under their feet. Everything is shaking, orientation in space is lost, pieces of earth, small pebbles and fragments are hitting the helmet. Professional training is instantly washed out of my head by the basic instinct — to survive. All that remains is the desire to run far away. Heavy FAB and ODAB were one of the main arguments, thanks to which, in May 2022, they broke the will to resist the garrison of the Mariupol "Azovstal", who had taken refuge in the dungeons.
A massive solution
The "three thousandth" has its drawbacks. The main problem is the mass. The main Russian fighter-bomber using UMPK bombs is the Su-34. He can lift only one FAB-3000 into the air, which, accordingly, allows him to hit only one target per flight.
Hitting the enemy's LDPE with heavy fabs
Image source:
In addition, such a heavy munition requires an UMPC with large dimensions and a bearing area of the wing and aerodynamic rudders, which increases its visibility for enemy air defense radars. It is easier to shoot down such a bomb than the nimble FAB-500, which can be hung on the Su-34 up to six pieces.
In the Ukrainian media, all Russian aviation weapons with UMPC are called KABami — correctable aerial bombs. In fact, KAB — in the Russian understanding of this abbreviation — is used much less often.
FAB-3000 aerial bomb
Image source: © Russian Ministry of Defense
We are talking about the KAB-500 family with various headsets and guidance systems — satellite, laser, television correlation. These bombs have proven themselves very well in Syria. However, a larger-scale armed conflict required cheap and massive solutions from the military-industrial complex.
UMPC gave free-falling bombs a second life. This weapon, as the experience of Avdiivka has shown, allows you to overcome even the most powerful fortified areas.
