Revealing Russia's most terrifying weapon of mass destruction

Russia possesses many of the world's most lethal weapons but has not been used on the battlefield.

'Father of all bombs'

In April, the US Air Force dropped a GBU-43 bomb, dubbed the "Mother of All Bombs" (MOAB), on Islamic State (IS) militants hiding in caves in the Nangahar Mountains in eastern Afghanistan. This is the most powerful conventional bomb in the US arsenal.

Russia also has a similar bomb, but it is 4 times more powerful than the US's MOAB super bomb, with a destructive power equivalent to about 40 tons of TNT. This bomb, called the "Father of All Bombs" (FOAB), has a destructive range twice that of the MOAB.

FOAB bombs have great destructive power thanks to the use of thermobaric technology. This technology uses the air around the explosion center to trigger the fuel combustion reaction, instead of adding oxidizer into the bomb. Not having to add oxidizer gives the bomb more space to hold more explosives, creating super strong, super hot shock waves that can vaporize everything around the explosion center.

The FAOB has a two-stage detonation mechanism. A smaller special warhead is activated first, spreading flammable fuel around in a cloud to mix with the air. Then the special explosive block weighing more than 7 tons is activated, burning almost all the surrounding air, creating a large fireball and a powerful shock wave that destroys the target.

Unlike the MOAB bomb, the FOAB bomb has only been tested by Russia but has not yet been put into combat on the battlefield, so its actual destructive power is still a controversial topic.

Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile

Russia's Satan intercontinental ballistic missile. Photo: Wikicommons.

The RS-20V Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile (NATO designation SS-18 Satan) was once considered the largest and most fearsome strategic missile in the world. Weighing nearly 210 tons, the Satan could carry 10 nuclear warheads with a yield of 750 kilotons.

However, Russia has planned to replace the Satan with the Sarmat strategic intercontinental ballistic missile, which is expected to be officially deployed in the final stage of the START III Treaty in 2021.

Sarmat is twice as light as Satan but is capable of carrying up to 17 independent nuclear warheads with a yield of 300 kilotons each. Moreover, these warheads do not use conventional parabolic trajectories but use independent guidance systems to attack multiple targets. They can change direction during re-entry to avoid being intercepted by enemy missiles.

Terminator armor

The BMPT Terminator armored vehicle was researched and developed by Russia after the first Chechen war, when the Russian army suffered heavy losses in both human and vehicle damage from the fierce resistance of separatist rebels. The cause of these losses is assessed to be the lack of an effective anti-infantry vehicle by the Russian army.

Built with the purpose of "sweeping" fortified enemy infantry bases in all combat environments, BMPT is equipped with a powerful and diverse weapon system.

The BMPT turret is equipped with two 2A42 30 mm twin-barreled automatic cannons (850 rounds) with a firing rate of up to 200 rounds/minute, capable of firing many different types of ammunition.

In addition to the two main guns are four Ataka-T remote-controlled anti-tank missile launchers, which can fire a variety of warheads, including HEAT rounds to destroy targets with explosive reactive armor. Thanks to the use of a variety of warheads, the BMPT is said to be capable of destroying all types of tanks, fortified bases, as well as low-flying enemy helicopters.

In addition, BMPT also possesses 2 AG-17D grenade launchers (600 rounds) and a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun with extremely powerful sweeping capabilities to destroy infantry sheltering in fortified positions.

According to VNE