Father of All Bombs Explained: Russia’s FOAB Claims, Specs and Doubts
Russia says its “Father of All Bombs” equals 44 tons of TNT, four times the U.S. MOAB. The claim has never been independently verified, and no combat use has been confirmed.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.
Russia’s “Father of All Bombs” is an aviation thermobaric bomb that Moscow says is the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever built. Russian officials call it the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, or ATBIP.
They claim it is four times as powerful as the U.S. “Mother of All Bombs.” Our MOAB explainer covers the American weapon in detail.
The claim rests on a single test announced on Sept. 11, 2007, and on Russian state television footage. No independent party has verified the numbers. No combat use has been confirmed.
The bomb is back in the news. On Oct. 21, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards spokesman said Iran is preparing to unveil a weapon of the same name. It followed reports that the Pentagon had drawn up plans that include a MOAB.
The 2007 Test Announcement
Russian state television aired the announcement on Sept. 11, 2007. Col. Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the General Staff, said the test results showed power “commensurate with a nuclear weapon,” Reuters reported. He called it a bomb “which has no match in the world.”
Rukshin also said the blast does not contaminate the environment the way a nuclear weapon does, CNN reported. Russian television said the defense ministry stressed the bomb broke no international treaty. CNN says the nickname began as a secret code name.
The footage showed a Tu-160 bomber, a bomb under a parachute and a huge fireball. It also showed a flattened four-story building. “The soil looks like a lunar landscape,” the report said.
Claimed Specifications
| Claim | Figure, as stated by Russia |
|---|---|
| Official name | Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP) |
| Weight and explosive | About 7.1 tons (CNN) to 7.8 tons of explosive (Channel One, via NBC). Reports differ on which figure means what |
| TNT equivalent | 44 tons |
| Destruction radius | 300 m (about 990 ft) |
| Epicenter temperature | Twice that of the MOAB, per Channel One |
| Carrier | Tu-160 bomber |
| Publicly announced tests | One, on Sept. 11, 2007 |
All of these figures come from the Russian side. Channel One said the bomb holds less explosive than the MOAB but is stronger because of a new fill. The BBC relayed that the fill used nanotechnology, which Russia never explained.
Tu-160M bombers during training flights for the Victory Day parade, April 22, 2019 - Russian Ministry of Defence (CC BY 4.0)
Expert Doubts and the Case for Plausibility
Western experts questioned the footage within weeks. Wired reported that the bomb and the Tu-160 never appear in the same shot. The bomb in the video had ski-like legs and a drag chute. Wired’s experts said that points to a cargo plane, not a bomber’s bay.
Phillip Coyle of the Center for Defense Information told Wired the blast “may be bigger than MOAB.” He said it is “at best 50 percent bigger.” John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org urged skepticism, and another expert said the weapon looked like a fuel-air device.
Others found it plausible. Robert Hewson of Jane’s told the BBC it was likely the world’s biggest non-nuclear bomb. In 2017, CNN quoted retired U.S. colonels who said Russia had the technology. One added: “We’ve only seen what the Russians have told us.”
How a Thermobaric Bomb Works
The BBC describes a fuel container with two charges. The first charge bursts the container and spreads the fuel as a cloud. A second charge ignites the cloud, producing a fireball, a blast wave and a drop in pressure that pulls in surrounding oxygen.
The cloud can seep through openings in buildings and tunnels. The BBC says the effects are worst in enclosed spaces. A review in the International Review of the Red Cross lists overpressure, heat, oxygen depletion and toxic gases among the harms.
The MOAB works differently. The Air Force Armament Museum Foundation lists its fill as H6, a conventional high explosive. Some outlets, including NBC News and Wired, have still called it thermobaric, which blurs the comparison.
A MOAB prepared for testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, 2003 - U.S. Department of Defense photograph (public domain)
Russia’s Other Thermobaric Weapons
The Father of All Bombs is an outlier. Russia’s fielded thermobaric arsenal is much smaller. Human Rights Watch lists the ODAB-series 500 kg air-dropped bomb, the TOS-1A rocket launcher and shoulder-fired rounds as Russian enhanced-blast weapons.
ODAB-500PMV fuel-air bombs on display at the MAKS air show, Aug. 19, 2009 - Vitaly V. Kuzmin (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The TOS-1A fires a volley of 24 thermobaric rockets up to 6 to 8 km, Human Rights Watch says. The UK Ministry of Defence said in March 2022 that Russia had confirmed its use in Ukraine, the BBC reported. Ukraine has since used a captured launcher near Kreminna, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
A TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launcher at the Army-2016 forum, Aug. 28, 2016 - Vitaly V. Kuzmin (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Russia used thermobaric weapons in Chechnya in 1999, and Human Rights Watch condemned it for doing so, the BBC notes.
Father of All Bombs vs MOAB vs GBU-57
| Russian “FOAB” (claimed) | GBU-43/B MOAB | GBU-57 MOP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Thermobaric, per Russia | Conventional blast | Penetrator |
| Weight | Not confirmed | 21,600 lb (9,800 kg) | Just under 30,000 lb |
| Explosive | About 7 to 7.8 tons | About 18,700 lb of H6 | Over 5,300 lb |
| Yield claimed | 44 tons of TNT | About 11 tons of TNT | Not published |
| Carrier | Tu-160, per Russian TV (disputed) | MC-130 | B-2 Spirit |
| Combat use | None confirmed | Once, 2017 | June 2025 |
MOAB figures come from the Air Force Armament Museum Foundation, and MOP figures from the Air Force. The 11-ton MOAB yield is the figure CNN and NBC cite. Our B-2 Spirit explainer covers the only aircraft that carries the MOP.
The MOP is built to burrow underground, so it is a different tool. The FOAB and the MOAB are both blast weapons for surface targets.
The Legal and Humanitarian Debate
Thermobaric weapons are not banned as a class. Human Rights Watch says enhanced-blast weapons are not incendiary weapons and are not outlawed by humanitarian law. It says they are prone to indiscriminate use near populated areas and give civilians almost no way to shelter.
The Red Cross review reached a similar view. It found their use lawful in most circumstances when aimed at a military objective with precautions. It said they should be avoided in urban or populated areas, like heavy explosive weapons.
Iran’s and China’s “Mother of All Bombs” Claims
Iran has borrowed the nickname before. In 2017, Revolutionary Guards commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh claimed Iran had built a 10-ton bomb of that name, Sigmalive reported. On Oct. 21, 2026, spokesman Hossein Mohebi said Iran was “in the stage of preparing to unveil” one, without specifications, Anadolu Agency reported.
China made its own version of the claim in 2018. State media dubbed a bomb dropped from an H-6K bomber “China’s Mother of All Bombs.” The Straits Times reported it was smaller than the U.S. weapon.
Father of All Bombs FAQ
What does FOAB stand for? Father of All Bombs, the nickname for Russia’s ATBIP. It is a play on the U.S. “Mother of All Bombs.”
Is the FOAB more powerful than the MOAB? Russia says so, by a factor of four. Outside experts say it may be somewhat bigger, but no one has verified it.
Has the FOAB been used in combat? No use has been confirmed. CNN reported in 2017 that it had never been used.
Is the FOAB a nuclear weapon? No. Russia compares its effect to one but says it leaves no contamination. For nuclear scale, see Tsar Bomba.
How many have been built? Unknown. One Russian editor told CNN he doubts there is only one, but nobody has confirmed a number.
Choose Clash Report as a preferred source and see our reporting first in Top Stories.