JOSEPH TREVITHICK
Russian forces have begun employing massive 3,000-kilogram (6,600-pound) class FAB-3000 M54 bombs turned into stand-off weapons in Ukraine it has been claimed. If true, this could present a significant new challenge for Ukrainian forces given the amount of destruction power such a weapon could deliver while also helping the launch platform stay further away from Ukrainian air defenses. At the same time, questions have already been raised about what aircraft might be able to employ FAB-3000 M54s converted in this way and the size of the available stockpile of the bombs, all of which could limit their actual operational utility.
The Fighterbomber channel on Telegram, which has close connections to the Russian Aerospace Forces, shared a video, seen below, earlier today purporting to show the first combat employment of a FAB-3000 M54 fitted with a UMPK-series glide bomb kit. UMPK modules consist of a pop-out wing kit and a guidance package, as you can read more about here. The FAB-3000 is one of, if not the largest conventional general-purpose high-explosive bomb in Russian service today. There is no direct U.S. military analog, with the largest of the three most common sizes of bombs American forces employ being in the 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) class, or less than a third of the size.
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