NPR: Russia Debuts 'Dad of All Bombs'

Russia Debuts 'Dad of All Bombs'

OK, this takes blowing things up to a whole new level.

Russia announced Tuesday that it tested what it called the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever. It's been nicknamed the "dad of all bombs." The nickname the "Mother Of All Bombs" is already taken — it refers to the United States' Massive Ordnance Air Blast, a large-yield, satellite-guided, air-delivered bomb. As The Associated Press reports:

[Russia's] Channel One said that while the Russian bomb contains 7.8 tons of high explosives compared to more than 8 tons of explosives in the U.S. bomb, it's four times more powerful because it uses a new, highly efficient type of explosives that the report didn't identify. While the U.S. bomb is equivalent to 11 tons of TNT, the Russian one is equivalent to 44 tons of regular explosives. The Russian weapon's blast radius is 990 feet, twice as big as that of the U.S. design, the report said.

So with bombs, size might not matter.

Anyway, now that the "mother" and "dad" nicknames are taken, what's left for other countries that want to make big bombs? Are they going to have to resort to the "great aunt of bombs"? Or maybe the "second-cousin-twice-removed of bombs"?

1:51 PM ET | 09-12-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Now, I understand why there are terrible and dangerous 'kids'(axis of evil). It's a family matter!

Sent by Lamine | 3:50 PM ET | 09-12-2007

There's the Divine Strake Ammonium Nitrate Bomb sitting in the Nevada desert waiting to be detonated. 700 tons of Ammonium Nitrate. About 550 times the size of the ammonium nitrate bomb Timothy McVeigh used in Oklahoma City.

Divine Strake is projected to toss Nevada dirt some ten thousand feet into the air. Much of the dirt is said to already be radioactive, from atomic bomb testing. No telling where that dirt will fall. Las Vegas, maybe? Maybe as far east as Oklahoma City. Maybe further east. Or west, to San Francisco. Or los Angeles. Or maybe even Hawaii. Nobody can say for exact which way the wind will blow the dirt when this baby goes off.

The Native American tribes filed suit to keep Divine Strake from being detonated.....so far. Stay tuned. Now that this news from Russia has hit the airwaves, things may change.

Thing is, how do they deliver a 700 ton bomb? The largest payload for any aircraft today is a Russian made plane that can load 250 tons.

Maybe what they will do is send Al Qaeda flyers saying they have just won a condo in the Nevada desert, all they have to do is assmble there on such and such a day to receive their keys.

fred call

Sent by fred call | 4:27 PM ET | 09-12-2007

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