Father of all bombs
Encyclopedia
Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP) , nicknamed "Father of All Bombs" (FOAB) (Отец всех бомб), is a Russia
n-made air-delivered/land-activated
thermobaric weapon
. In describing the bomb's destructive power, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff Alexander Rushkin was quoted as saying, "all that is alive merely evaporates." The bomb is reportedly four times more powerful than the U.S. military's
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
(whose official military acronym "MOAB" is often colloquially said as the "Mother of All Bombs"). This would make it the most powerful conventional
(non-nuclear
) weapon in the world, although the veracity of the weapon's size and power has been called into question by some U.S defense analysts.
The bomb was successfully field-tested
in the late evening of September 11, 2007. According to the Russian military, the new weapon will replace several smaller types of nuclear bombs in its arsenal.
7.8 tons of a new type of high explosive. Because of this, the bombs blast and pressure wave have a similar effect as a small tactical nuclear weapon
, though on a smaller scale. The bomb works by detonating in mid-air. Most damage is inflicted by a supersonic
shockwave and extremely high temperatures, which incinerates everything nearby. Thermobaric weapon
s differ from conventional explosive weapons in that they generate a longer, more sustained blast wave with greater temperatures. In doing so, they produce more damage over a larger area than a conventional weapon of similar mass.
, use of the weapon does not damage or pollute the environment beyond the blast radius
.
In comparison, the MOAB
produces the equivalent of 11 tons of TNT from 8 tons of high explosive. The claimed blast radius of the FOAB is 300m, almost double that of the MOAB, and the temperature produced is twice as high.
of the bomb and whether it could be deployed by a Tupolev
bomber. A report by Wired
says photos and the video of the event suggest that it is designed to be deployed from the rear of a slow moving cargo plane, and they note that the bomb-test video released by the Russians never shows both the bomb and the Tupolev bomber in the same camera shot. There are also questions on what type of explosives it actually used. They quoted Tom Burky, a senior research scientist at Battelle
, saying "It's not even clear what kind of weapon the Russians tested." He questions if it was what some experts call a "fuel-air explosive
," or if it was a "thermobaric
" weapon. "Fuel-air and thermobaric bombs differ in usefulness". Burky says that the weapon depicted in the video appears to be a fuel-air explosive, based on its shape.
Phillip Coyle, an adviser to the Washington, D.C.
, Center for Defense Information
, says he is skeptical about Father of All Bombs' true power. "It (the blast) may be bigger than MOAB," he concedes, "but it's not four times bigger – at best 50 percent bigger, just going on the bomb's size and how these bombs are designed."
However, John Pike, an analyst at the think tank GlobalSecurity, says that despite his skepticism, he believes the Father of All Bombs is roughly as powerful as the Russians claim. What he does not necessarily believe is that the weapon is actually new. He says the Russians have possessed a range of thermobaric weapons for at least four decades. Pike says:
Robert Hewson, an editor for Jane's, told the BBC
it was likely that FOAB indeed represented the world's biggest non-nuclear bomb. "You can argue about the numbers and how you scale this but the Russians have a long and proven history of developing weapons in the thermobaric class," he says. UPI claimed the device "would enormously boost Russia's conventional military capabilities."
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-made air-delivered/land-activated
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
thermobaric weapon
Thermobaric weapon
A thermobaric weapon, which includes the type known as a "fuel-air bomb", is an explosive weapon that produces a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than those produced by condensed explosives. This is useful in military applications where its longer duration increases the numbers of...
. In describing the bomb's destructive power, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff Alexander Rushkin was quoted as saying, "all that is alive merely evaporates." The bomb is reportedly four times more powerful than the U.S. military's
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb is a large-yield conventional bomb developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. At the time of development, it was touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed...
(whose official military acronym "MOAB" is often colloquially said as the "Mother of All Bombs"). This would make it the most powerful conventional
Conventional weapon
The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons that are in relatively wide use that are not weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Conventional weapons include small arms and light weapons, sea and land mines, as well as ...
(non-nuclear
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
) weapon in the world, although the veracity of the weapon's size and power has been called into question by some U.S defense analysts.
The bomb was successfully field-tested
Live fire exercise
A live fire exercise or LFX is any exercise in which a realistic scenario for the use of specific equipment is simulated. In the popular lexicon this is applied primarily to tests of weapons or weapon systems that are associated with the various branches of a nation's armed forces, although the...
in the late evening of September 11, 2007. According to the Russian military, the new weapon will replace several smaller types of nuclear bombs in its arsenal.
Description
The thermobaric device yields the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT using7.8 tons of a new type of high explosive. Because of this, the bombs blast and pressure wave have a similar effect as a small tactical nuclear weapon
Tactical nuclear weapon
A tactical nuclear weapon refers to a nuclear weapon which is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations. This is as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons which are designed to menace large populations, to damage the enemy's ability to wage war, or for general deterrence...
, though on a smaller scale. The bomb works by detonating in mid-air. Most damage is inflicted by a supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
shockwave and extremely high temperatures, which incinerates everything nearby. Thermobaric weapon
Thermobaric weapon
A thermobaric weapon, which includes the type known as a "fuel-air bomb", is an explosive weapon that produces a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than those produced by condensed explosives. This is useful in military applications where its longer duration increases the numbers of...
s differ from conventional explosive weapons in that they generate a longer, more sustained blast wave with greater temperatures. In doing so, they produce more damage over a larger area than a conventional weapon of similar mass.
Compared with MOAB
According to General Alexander Rushkin, the Russian deputy chief of staff, the new bomb is smaller than the MOAB but much deadlier because the temperature at the centre of the blast is twice as high. He says the bomb's capabilities are comparable to nuclear weapons, but unlike a nuclear weapon known for its radioactive falloutNuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
, use of the weapon does not damage or pollute the environment beyond the blast radius
Blast radius
A blast radius is the distance from the source that will be affected when an explosion occurs. A blast radius is often associated with, but not limited to, bombs, mines, explosive projectiles , and other weapons with an explosive charge....
.
In comparison, the MOAB
Moab
Moab is the historical name for a mountainous strip of land in Jordan. The land lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by numerous archeological findings, most notably the Mesha Stele, which describes the Moabite victory over...
produces the equivalent of 11 tons of TNT from 8 tons of high explosive. The claimed blast radius of the FOAB is 300m, almost double that of the MOAB, and the temperature produced is twice as high.
| Indicator | MОАВ | FОАВ |
|---|---|---|
| Mass: | 8,200 kg | 7,100 kg |
| TNT equivalent: | 11 tons / 22,000 Ib | ~44 tons / 88,000 Ib |
| Blast radius: | 150 m (500 ft) | 300 m (1,000 ft) |
| Guidance: | INS/GPS | Unknown (presumably GLONASS GLONASS GLONASS , acronym for Globalnaya navigatsionnaya sputnikovaya sistema or Global Navigation Satellite System, is a radio-based satellite navigation system operated for the Russian government by the Russian Space Forces... *) |
Analysis and veracity
Some defense analysts question both the yieldNuclear weapon yield
The explosive yield of a nuclear weapon is the amount of energy discharged when a nuclear weapon is detonated, expressed usually in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene , either in kilotons or megatons , but sometimes also in terajoules...
of the bomb and whether it could be deployed by a Tupolev
Tupolev
Tupolev is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Public Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev...
bomber. A report by Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
says photos and the video of the event suggest that it is designed to be deployed from the rear of a slow moving cargo plane, and they note that the bomb-test video released by the Russians never shows both the bomb and the Tupolev bomber in the same camera shot. There are also questions on what type of explosives it actually used. They quoted Tom Burky, a senior research scientist at Battelle
Battelle
Battelle may refer to:* Battelle Hall, multi-purpose arena and exhibit hall located in Columbus, Ohio* Battelle Memorial Institute, R&D organization that manages seven large U.S. national laboratories headquartered in Columbus, Ohio...
, saying "It's not even clear what kind of weapon the Russians tested." He questions if it was what some experts call a "fuel-air explosive
Fuel-air explosive
A fuel-air explosive device consists of a container of fuel and two separate explosive charges. After the munition is dropped or fired, the first explosive charge bursts open the container at a predetermined height and disperses the fuel in a cloud that mixes with atmospheric oxygen...
," or if it was a "thermobaric
Thermobaric weapon
A thermobaric weapon, which includes the type known as a "fuel-air bomb", is an explosive weapon that produces a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than those produced by condensed explosives. This is useful in military applications where its longer duration increases the numbers of...
" weapon. "Fuel-air and thermobaric bombs differ in usefulness". Burky says that the weapon depicted in the video appears to be a fuel-air explosive, based on its shape.
Phillip Coyle, an adviser to the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Center for Defense Information
Center for Defense Information
The Center for Defense Information , founded in 1972 by retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Gene La Rocque, states that it is dedicated to strengthening national and international security through international cooperation, reduced reliance on unilateral military power to resolve conflict, reduced...
, says he is skeptical about Father of All Bombs' true power. "It (the blast) may be bigger than MOAB," he concedes, "but it's not four times bigger – at best 50 percent bigger, just going on the bomb's size and how these bombs are designed."
However, John Pike, an analyst at the think tank GlobalSecurity, says that despite his skepticism, he believes the Father of All Bombs is roughly as powerful as the Russians claim. What he does not necessarily believe is that the weapon is actually new. He says the Russians have possessed a range of thermobaric weapons for at least four decades. Pike says:
Robert Hewson, an editor for Jane's, told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
it was likely that FOAB indeed represented the world's biggest non-nuclear bomb. "You can argue about the numbers and how you scale this but the Russians have a long and proven history of developing weapons in the thermobaric class," he says. UPI claimed the device "would enormously boost Russia's conventional military capabilities."
See also
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- Grand Slam bombGrand Slam bombThe Grand Slam was a 22,000 lb earthquake bomb used by RAF Bomber Command against strategic targets during the Second World War.Known officially as the Bomb, Medium Capacity, 22,000 lb, it was a scaled up version of the Tallboy bomb and closer to the original size that the bombs' inventor,...
- Soviet atomic bomb projectSoviet atomic bomb projectThe Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
- Mother of all bombsGBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bombThe GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb is a large-yield conventional bomb developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. At the time of development, it was touted as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever designed...
- Tsar BombaTsar BombaTsar Bomba is the nickname for the AN602 hydrogen bomb, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated. It was also referred to as Kuz'kina Mat , in this usage meaning "something that has not been seen before"....
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- Tsar Bell
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