Proving Stalin’s Point
Uncle Joe Stalin once said, “Quantity is its own quality.” The war in Ukraine may be proving his point. During the recent battle of Avdiyevka, Russian ground forces lay back while Russian Aerospace Forces dropped one hundred glide bombs a day on Ukraine Armed Forces (AFU) positions. Avdiyevka was likely the most heavily fortified position in eastern Ukraine, having been built up since 2015. These precision-guided weapons of 500 and 1500 kilograms annihilated Ukrainian fortifications. The result was a devastating defeat for the AFU.
During 2023, the Russians followed a similar strategy, at times dropping 20 FAB-500 UMPK glide bombs a day. UMPK stands for Unifitsirovannyi Modul Planirovaniya i Korrektsii, meaning unified gliding and correction module. The weapon has a range of 45 miles and costs $25,000 each. The heavier FAB-1500 has a range of 25 miles (Ranges source: Forces News).
The Russians are reinforcing success. While Russia has always enjoyed an advantage (at times as high as 10:1) in artillery, 152mm howitzer shells do not pack as much destructive power as 500kg and 3000kg bombs. The bombs are much better at destroying fortifications.
Russian FAB-500 Glide Bomb
Comparable to US Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs)
The Russian glide bombs are comparable to the GPS-guided JDAMs that NATO has supplied to Ukraine. However, the AFU has suffered from the lack of delivery platforms and strong Russian-integrated air defense. So far, the AFU has not made effective use of the JDAMs. The FAB glide bombs are guided using GLONASS, the Russian equivalent of GPS. While less accurate than the NATO weapons, the Russian bombs are cheap and can be delivered in large numbers by stand-off aircraft, usually SU-34s.
Russia is mass-producing glide-bomb kits. The kits consist of a set of fold-out wings and an empennage with fins directed by GLONASS. These are fitted to standard, WW2-era dumb bombs that the Russians possess in abundance. They started with 500kg bombs to test the concept, then quickly graduated to 1000 and 1500 kg.
Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu has announced that Russia is now mass-producing FAB-3000 bombs. That’s 3000 kg, or 6600 pounds.
For comparison purposes, the GBU-31 and GBU-56 JDAMs weigh about 2000 pounds each. That makes the FAB-3000 a little over three times the mass of the larger general-purpose JDAMs. They are not remotely as large as the heaviest conventional bombs ever fielded.
Meet the Tallboy
During World War 2, the Royal Air Force deployed unguided “Tallboy” bombs of 5,400kg (12,000 pounds) and Grand Slam bombs of 10,000kg (22,000 pounds). The U.S. “Mother of All Bombs,” deployed from a C-130 Hercules in Afghanistan, is 9800kg (21700 pounds). However, the MOAB is not a direct comparable because it is an airburst weapon.
RAF Lancaster with modified bomb bay and Tallboy bomb
The FAB-3000, therefore, is not a behemoth. However, it is a mass-produced, heavy-precision weapon that packs a punch. While the FAB-3000s can be deployed on SU-34 hardpoints, one on each wing, they are meant to be carried on Tupolev TU-22M bombers. This makes complete sense. The British Tallboys and Grand Slams of World War 2 had to be delivered from specially modified Lancasters. The weapons were so heavy that they adversely affected the handling of the aircraft, and pilots were unable to perform evasive maneuvers. Carrying two of these on an SU-34 might be possible but unsafe.
The Soviet Air Force deployed an FAB-5000 bomb in World War 2, but for the moment, Russia is content mass producing the FAB-3000. They don’t seem interested in a contest to see who has the biggest weapon. They are interested in putting a lot of them on target.
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By: Cameron Curtis
Cameron Curtis has spent thirty years on trade floors as a trader and risk manager. He was on the trade floor when Saddam’s tanks rolled into Kuwait, when the air wars opened over Baghdad and Belgrade, and when the financial crisis swallowed the world. Having written fiction as a child, he is the author of the Breed action thriller series, available on Amazon.
