The FAB-500 is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-designed general purpose air-dropped

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

with a

high-explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

, primarily used by the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

, former Soviet republics and customer countries. The original M-54 model was rolled out in 1954, shaped for internal carriage by heavy bombers, a low-drag M-62 version in 1962 was intended for fighter bomber external hardpoint carriage. Early models were unguided, with a single nose fuze, and compatible with most models of Soviet aircraft. The latest variants of the FAB-500 bomb use the

UMPK UMPK (, Unified gliding and correction module) is a munition guidance kit first developed by the Russian Bazalt Design Bureau for converting unguided Soviet bombs into precision-guided glide bombs. This kit is an aerial bomb glide range exten ...

, a winged system developed after 2022 Ukraine war, for precision satellite guidance and increased stand-off distance.

Operational history

The FAB-500 was widely employed over Afghanistan by Soviet and allied Afghan forces in the 1980s and saw use during the 2011-2019 Syrian civil war, where it was carried by both Russian and Syrian warplanes. The M62 variant has been used by Russian military forces in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. On 13 March 2022 and 14 May 2022, FAB-500 bombs were found in Ukrainian cities of

Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...

and

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

. In March 2023, Russian

Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable, 4.5 ge ...

s launched a number of FAB-500 M-62, wreckage of which indicated that they had been fitted with an

, a glide kit involving pop-out wings. It is unknown whether these had an internal navigation system, or were fitted with wings simply to extend the range to up to 70 km. It also is believed that these give Russian aircraft a stand-off ability to hit Ukrainian targets without risking exposure to Ukrainian air defences. As of May 2023, UMPK-equipped FAB-500

glide bomb A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rat ...

s have continued to be used by Russia in Ukraine, with up to 20 of them being dropped every day, and Ukrainian air defences lack the capability to intercept them. The full-scale training of Russian pilots on using the bombs reportedly started in November 2023. According to the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American nonprofit research group and advocacy think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan and headquartered in Washington, D.C. ISW provides research and analysis of modern arm ...

, FAB-500 "hold an explosive weight of 150 kilograms, have a damage radius of 250 meters, and can destroy headquarters, warehouses, and concrete and reinforced concrete objects."

Operational envelope (FAB-500 M-62)

* Release altitude: * Release speed:

Variants

* FAB-500 M-54 (ФАБ-500 М-54) – original 1954 high-drag model intended for internal carriage in heavy bombers, featuring a ballistic ring on the nose of the bomb to act as a

vortex generator A vortex generator (VG) is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small wikt:vane, vane usually attached to a lifting surface (or airfoil, such as an aircraft, aircraft wing) or a rotor blade of a wind turbine. * FAB-500 M-62T – heat-resistant, capable of withstanding high-temperature aerodynamic heating, arising during flight at high speeds. Developed for the MiG-25RB. * FAB-500 M-62 MPK (ФАБ-500 М-62 с МПК) * FAB-500T (ФАБ-500Т) * FAB-500TA (ФАБ-500ТА) * FAB-500ShN (ФАБ-500ШН) – parachute-retarded thin cased bomb * FAB-500ShL (ФАБ-500ШЛ) – parachute-retarded high explosive bomb * FAB-500 M46 (ФАБ-500 М46) * FAB-500 M44 (ФАБ-500 М44) * FAB-500 M43 (ФАБ-500 М43) * FAB-500-300 (ФАБ-500-300) – thick cased high explosive * FAB-500TS (ФАБ-500ТС) – thick cased high explosive and fragmentation * FAB-500TSM (ФАБ-500ТСМ) * OFAB-500 (ОФАБ-500) – general purpose high explosive fragmentation bomb (contains 3 x 150 kg submunitions) * OFAB-500U (ОФАБ-500У) – delayed action fragmentation bomb * OFAB-500ShR (ОФАБ-500ШP) – parachute-retarded fragmentation bomb

Operators

* * * * * * *

References

{{Russian and Soviet Aircraft Ordnance Cold War aerial bombs of the Soviet Union Military equipment introduced in the 1950s

Operational history

Operational envelope (FAB-500 M-62)

Variants

Operators

See also

References