"New destructive potential": ISW points out the danger of Russia's use of FAB-3000

For the first time, Russian troops used a new FAB-3000 M-54 bomb with a unified planning and adjustment module (UMPC) to strike "Ukrainian positions" in the Kharkiv region. This is a new destructive potential for the occupiers if they continue to be able to use such weapons without hindrance.

This is the opinion of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Earlier, Ukrainian military expert Oleksandr Kovalenko said that the enemy's new development weighs three tons (of which 1200 kg is explosives) and could negatively affect the situation on the battlefield.

Russian sources widely disseminated footage of the "first-ever" FAB-3000 strike on an allegedly Ukrainian deployment point in Liptsi, Kharkiv region, on June 20. So-called military officials claimed that it caused significant damage. But in reality, the bomb fell 10 meters from the "destination".

The day before, the Ukrainian military portal Defense Express clarified that the occupiers' target was a hospital in the village: their new FAB missed, but still caused significant damage.

ISW notes that former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu first announced the serial production of the FAB-3000 M-54 during a visit to the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia in March 2024. He said that these are variants of unguided bombs weighing more than 3,000 kg, which, with the addition of the UMPK modification, can be converted into guided corrective bombs.

Russian sources boasted about the production of these weapons, but admitted that due to their weight and size, the supply of bombs would be very difficult for most tactical aircraft of the Russian Armed Forces.

"The fact that Russian troops have figured out how to launch the FAB-3000 is an important development and will increase the destructive potential of sustained attacks with precision-guided bombs against Ukrainian forces and infrastructure," ISW experts said.

They emphasized that the occupiers have already increased the use of guided and unguided corrected bombs against Ukraine, especially in the Kharkiv region, and this has had a devastating effect.

"If the Russian Armed Forces are able to launch a massive strike with FAB-3000s (or even heavier KABs), they will be able to inflict even more damage on Ukrainian forward positions and critical infrastructure," the analysts emphasized.

Russian bloggers wrote the day before that the June 20 strike on Liptsy was not particularly accurate, but the FAB-3000's radius of destruction "compensates for the lack of accuracy." The ISW added that this is true, especially if the Russian occupation forces are able to use such bombs on an unprecedented scale, as they have been doing with FAB-500 since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the terrorist state of Russia fires 3200-3500 KABs of various modifications at Ukraine every month. These hostile strikes are aimed exclusively at damaging infrastructure and civilians to instill fear in people.

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