A screenshot of a Russian MoD video showing the moment of release of the FAB-3000 glide bomb from the centreline hardpoint of an Su-34 strike aircraft over Ukraine. (Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation)
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation has released footage of the glide-adapted version of the FAB-3000 high-yield bomb being dropped over a target in Ukraine.
Released on 14 July, the footage shows the 1,387 kg high-explosive (HE) warhead bomb fitted with a UMPK extended-range wing kit being loaded onto the centreline hardpoint of a Sukhoi Su-34 ‘Fullback' strike aircraft (it also carries two smaller glide-bombs under the wings, seemingly FAB-250s), before being launched and impacting a target in Ukraine.
As the footage showed, the FAB-3000 is stowed with the wings folded underneath the bomb. Once released, the wings deploy and the bomb rolls 180° before flying to its target. With the in-flight bomb seemingly being filmed from a chase aircraft, it is unclear if that section is of the strike mission itself or if it has been later spliced into the mission footage. The impact appears to have been shot from an unmanned aerial vehicle offset from the target area, indicating it is from an actual strike mission.
FAB stands for Fugasnaya AviaBomba, meaning aerial demolition bomb, and Janes Weapons: Air Launched notes that the baseline freefall version of the FAB-3000 is one of a series of Soviet Union-era bombs that date back to the early 1950s, known as M-54. The FAB-3000 can be dropped from an altitude of between 500 m (1,640 ft) and 1,600 m (5,250 ft) in its freefall configuration, but drop and/or range figures for the glider version have not been disclosed.
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