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Russia has delivered a
belligerent message of defiance to the West
after army generals claimed to have tested
"the father of all bombs".
Developed in secret, the
unchristened bomb, a vacuum device capable
of emitting shockwaves as powerful as a
nuclear weapon, was unveiled with great
theatre on state television's main evening
broadcast.
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| A
mushroom cloud rises over a plain as
Russia’s military test their latest
weapon |
Boasting that the weapon
had "no match in the world," ORT First
Channel television showed a Tupolev Tu-160
strategic bomber dropping its payload over a
testing ground, followed by a massive
explosion.
Pictures of what appeared
to be crumpled multi-storey apartment blocks
were also broadcast.
Although there was no
independent verification of the Russian
military's claim, the test is likely to
cause further consternation in the West
after a series of bellicose statements by
the president, Vladimir Putin.
According to Russian
generals, the bomb is four times more
powerful than the American Massive Ordnance
Air Blast Bomb or
MOAB.
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Better known as the Mother
of All Bombs, the MOAB is a descendent of
the BLU-82 Daisy cutter used in Tora Bora
during the war against the Taliban in 2001.
Although it has never been
used, the US military says the MOAB is
capable of destroying nine city blocks in
one strike.
According to Gen Alexander
Rushkin, the Russian deputy chief of staff,
the new bomb is smaller than the MOAB but
much deadlier because, due to
nanotechnology, the temperature at the
epicentre of the blast is twice as high.
"Test results of the new
airborne weapon have shown that its
efficiency and power is commensurate with a
nuclear weapon," he said.
"The main destruction is
inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and an
incredibly high temperature," ORT added.
"All that is alive merely
evaporates."
Despite its destructive
qualities, the bomb is environmentally
friendly, Gen Rushkin said.
The test comes after weeks
of increasingly belligerent rhetoric from
the Kremlin.
Mr Putin has ordered his
long-range nuclear bombers to mount
patrols in international airspace for the
first time since the Cold War.
Last week, Russian Tupolev
bombers approached British airspace for the
fourth time in two months and sorties have
also been flown close to US military
installations.
Since Mr Putin, an ex-KGB
officer, came to power, Russia's annual
defence spending has been quadrupled.
In addition, the Kremlin
has announced a £100 billion military
modernisation programme.
The new bomb is further
proof that Russia's military has regained
its technological edge. New ground and sea
launched nuclear missiles have also been
developed. |
