Draft:FAB-1500

The FAB-1500 is a Soviet-designed 1500 kg general purpose air-dropped bomb with a high-explosive warhead, primarily used by the Russian Aerospace Forces, former Soviet republics and customer countries. The original M-54 model was rolled out in 1954, shaped for internal carriage by heavy bombers like Su-34 and Su-24 frontline bombers.

Design
FAB-1500-54 is an unguided high-explosive bomb of the 1954 model. Its weight is 1550 kilograms, of which 675 kg is occupied by an explosive (TNT). It is designed to strike industrial, urban, port facilities and other typical targets when bombing from altitudes up to 16,000 m with a flight speed of up to 1200 km/h. In addition, the bomb itself received an overhead airfoil round shape that should improve its aerodynamic characteristics. The FAB-1500 have a damage radius of around 500 meters.

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu toured the JSC Missiles Corporation near Moscow oblast where he was told about the increasing of armament. Fighterbomber, which is close to the Russian military and has nearly half-a-million subscribers, claimed that the newly developed glide kit had increased the range of the bombs. It also said the FAB-1500 was accurate to within five meters.

Widely regarded reports have told that the Russian Forces are turning the old unguided bombs to glide vehicle using high precision amunitions and glide kits. Recently, the FAB variants are equipped with UMPK (bomb kit) which turns it to a guided system. Wings and satellite guidance kits are available for 1,100-, 2,200- and 3,300-pound dumb bombs. This bomb is delivered from fighter jets 60-70 kilometers away from the strike, outside the range of most Ukrainian air defense systems.

Russia-Ukraine War
One soldier from Ukraine’s 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade reported that Russian Ground Forces were using FAB-1500 bombs near the frontline town of Krasnohorivka in Donetsk. The use of FAB bombs has become a critical element in the Russian offensive in Donetsk region, especially in razing to the ground Ukrainian defenses in and around Avdiivka, which fell in February 2024.

Yurii Ihnat, Ukrainian air force spokesman, told CNN: “On the eve of and during the battle of Avdiivka hundreds of air bombs were launched within days. There were 250 of them used in Avdiivka direction in 48 hours only.”

Don’t underestimate Russia’s huge glide-bombs. They might not be as elegant and accurate as Ukraine’s smaller glide-bombs. But with their heavier explosive fill, they are “one of the biggest fears” among Ukrainian troops, according to Ukrainian soldier Olexandr Solon'ko.

“The Russians use them extensively,” Solon'ko wrote. “I can't speak to their accuracy, but the weaponry is powerful.”

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Captain Dmytro Lykhovyi said that Russia had used the bombs in a series of recent attacks in Donetsk, east Ukraine, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

A FAB-1500 can hold an explosive weight of 675 kilograms, have a damage radius of 500 meters, and can destroy headquarters, warehouses, and concrete and reinforced concrete objects.

Variants

 * FAB-250(Smaller Version)
 * FAB-500(Medium Version)
 * KAB-1500-Guided Air to Air or Air to Surface bomb equipped with vortex generator ballistic nose ring