FAB-500: the legendary aerial bomb that has "gone wiser"

Russian planning bombs or, as they are also called "smart" bombs, have recently been heard even by those who are not at all interested in weapons.

It is these deadly munitions that are currently being used by the Russian Aerospace Forces to destroy rear depots and manpower of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the NVO zone. According to many foreign experts, Russian planning bombs are currently a real "headache" for the Ukrainian command, since air defense systems are powerless against them.

However, now we will not talk about "smart" bombs, but about their progenitor - high-explosive aviation bomb FAB-500.

Air bombs of this caliber were put into service in the USSR in 1932. Since that moment, the ammunition has undergone changes more than once. In particular, a low-drag version of the bomb appeared in 1962, designed to be carried on external pods rather than in the bomber's internal compartment.

It is to them that the planning and correction module is “screwed” today.

It is worth noting that making a "smart" bomb from the FAB-500 was a brilliant decision. After all, the destructive power of this ammunition is really impressive. After the explosion of a 213-kg warhead, a funnel remains up to 8 m in diameter and 3 meters deep.

At the same time, one can hardly find an aerial bomb, the design of which is simpler than that of the FAB-500. In addition, the body of the ammunition is made of cast iron, which is much cheaper than steel, but it is better crushed into fragments. As a result, the cost of refining the FAB-500M-62 and turning it into a planning bomb today costs about 300 thousand rubles.

Meanwhile, the most important thing is that in Russia after the collapse of the USSR, a huge amount of these bombs remained in warehouses, which, with minimal financial costs, cause maximum damage to the enemy.

Comments

[Maluck]

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

[your1970]

Quote: Maluck

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

Do you think that it flies 70 km on 2 wings with a weight of half a ton?

[Sergei N 58912062]

Quote: your1970

Do you think that it flies 70 km on 2 wings with a weight of half a ton?

Yes, on the wings, there is no accelerator on them.

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: Maluck

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

I don’t know how a bonba is, but in childhood the boys “screwed turpentine into the tail” of a dog ... In general, she ran away from the village!

[SergeyB]

Quote: Maluck

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

If you attach an accelerator, then the centering of the bomb will be disturbed and, after being dropped, it will begin to tumble randomly.
Of course, you can rework the planning module, modify the software, and so on. But the whole point of turning a simple bomb into a smart one, at a good price/performance ratio.
If you start to additionally screw something else to the bomb, then the cost will begin to grow rapidly, but the effectiveness will grow much more slowly.

[Sergei N 58912062]

Quote: SergeyB

Quote: Maluck

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

If you attach an accelerator, then the centering of the bomb will be disturbed and, after being dropped, it will begin to tumble randomly.
Of course, you can rework the planning module, modify the software, and so on. But the whole point of turning a simple bomb into a smart one, at a good price/performance ratio.
If you start to additionally screw something else to the bomb, then the cost will begin to grow rapidly, but the effectiveness will grow much more slowly.

This is how productivity will increase.

[Dead duck]

it won’t work, the Americans developed a whole “constructor” for this for alterations.
in fact, the central (with warhead) part remained from the bomb.

[Sergei N 58912062]

Quote: Maluck

And if you screw a small accelerator into its tail, then the range can be doubled ....

One of the options for upgrading free-falling bombs into gliding bombs from GNPP "BASALT" provided for this.

[Vladimir80]

Yeah, it took a year to get wiser ... True, in other countries they have been using this for many years, but that's okay ... But what will happen when the fabs from Soviet stocks run out?

[Bodipancher]

Still sticking. Cast iron blank stuffed with explosives + fuse .. The design is simple to disgrace. I think the shape of the new generation of bombs will be immediately optimized for the installation of a planning and correction module and finalized in terms of aerodynamics.

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: Bodypuncher

I think the shape of the new generation of bombs will be immediately optimized for the installation of a planning and correction module and finalized in terms of aerodynamics.

Do you hope that "free-falling" (unguided) aerial bombs of such a "caliber" will continue to be developed after the SVO?

[Lozovik]

In 2023, Russia continues to produce bombs of the 50s model, so anything is possible

[Sergei N 58912062]

Quote: Bodypuncher

Still sticking. Cast iron blank stuffed with explosives + fuse .. The design is simple to disgrace. I think the shape of the new generation of bombs will be immediately optimized for the installation of a planning and correction module and finalized in terms of aerodynamics.

Bombs of the new generation are initially made adjustable (KAB) / guided (UPAB).
The purpose of the UMPC is to make a gliding bomb out of an old, free-falling bomb.

[Piramidon]

Even if you bomb with a free fall, there will be enough of them in warehouses for two wars. And here you also need to attach the wings. And what prevents them from additionally riveting? There is no difficulty in making them.

[AVESSALOM]

She grew wiser and from a great mind planned for Belgorod.

[Nikolaevich I]

Quote: AVESSALOM

She grew wiser and from a great mind planned for Belgorod.

Don't touch the bonbu! She has nothing to do with it!

[Lozovik]

The author should not mislead readers: the bodies of air bombs, whether they are models 46, 54, 62 or 76, are made of steel, only the method of obtaining certain elements differs. For example, the head part is cast, the cylinder and tail cone are rolled, the stabilizer is stamped, etc.

[Bingo]

One of the many technological victories of the Russian army over NATO, and primarily the United States. With JDAM is clearly not comparable. completely crap) Generally funny. how "backward Russia" with 2% of the world economy is successfully doing the West in all respects.
By the way, over the past year, the defense budget of the Outskirts with supplies - something like 80 billion was counted, in Russia - about 90, the order of numbers is this, too lazy to look. The bottom line is that Ukraine does not spend money either on development or on production, consider it does not spend much on salaries for military personnel - the same terobarans are quickly recorded as missing. That is, there are more weapons, but the territory has been lost, and who has a better army - Russia, or NATO, which has been preparing meat for 8 years?

[Foul skeptic]

One of the many technological victories of the Russian army over NATO, and primarily the United States. With JDAM is clearly not comparable. completely crap) Generally funny. how "backward Russia" with 2% of the world economy is successfully doing the West in all respects.
By the way, over the past year, the defense budget of the Outskirts with supplies - something like 80 billion was counted, in Russia - about 90, the order of numbers is this, too lazy to look. The bottom line is that Ukraine does not spend money either on development or on production, consider it does not spend much on salaries for military personnel - the same terobarans are quickly recorded as missing. That is, there are more weapons, but the territory has been lost, and who has a better army - Russia, or NATO, which has been preparing meat for 8 years?

And there are such people.

[Bingo]

Quote: Nefarious skeptic

And there are such people.

Not in your chicken coop. Belgorod already taken?

[Foul skeptic]

Not in your chicken coop. Belgorod already taken?

What a stupid phrase even when there is essentially nothing to say.

[Sergei N 58912062]

Quote from Bingo

One of the many technological victories of the Russian army over NATO, and primarily the United States. With JDAM is clearly not comparable. completely crap) Generally funny. how "backward Russia" with 2% of the world economy is successfully doing the West in all respects.
By the way, over the past year, the defense budget of the Outskirts with supplies - something like 80 billion was counted, in Russia - about 90, the order of numbers is this, too lazy to look. The bottom line is that Ukraine does not spend money either on development or on production, consider it does not spend much on salaries for military personnel - the same terobarans are quickly recorded as missing. That is, there are more weapons, but the territory has been lost, and who has a better army - Russia, or NATO, which has been preparing meat for 8 years?

Another jingoistic patriot.

[Dead duck]

What is that in the top left corner? looks like a big rocket carcass.
not "let's thunder to the fanfare?

[wladimirjankov]

300000 rubles is not sickly for expandable wings and a control module. The FAB 500 itself probably costs less. But it's still several times cheaper than the KAB 500.

[Garik Gorkin]

300000 rubles is not sickly for expandable wings and a control module.

Now is the time for defective managers. The main thing is to cut down the money. Six months ago, I read how ours are buying cheap civilian drones in China, which, after a minimal upgrade (replacement of firmware, etc.), increase in price by 3 times.

[Kuziming]

It turns out that ten pieces are already three million? Thousands of bombs are unlikely to be remade at such prices.