In the context of Russia's resumption of mass production of the powerful FAB-3000 aerial bomb, military correspondent Alexander Sladkov recalls an even more powerful munition - the FAB-9000, known by the nickname “Elephant”. This bomb was actively used by Soviet troops during military operations in Afghanistan, as well as in the Chechen War, where one of these bombs pierced the Dudayev Palace building without exploding.

Sladkov emphasized that today there are no obstacles to the use of FAB-9000 in the current military conditions. At the same time, some experts consider the use of such a powerful bomb to be excessive for many tasks and propose more profitable options for using smaller ammunition to attack wide areas, such as industrial zones or large enterprises.

The FAB-9000 M-54, developed in the late 1950s, is one of the most powerful non-nuclear bombs ever in the arsenal of the USSR and later Russia. With a warhead weight of 4297 kg of TNT, the Elephant was intended to destroy industrial structures, factories and ships in parking lots and could be used by Tu-16, Tu-22 and Tu-95 bombers.

However, taking into account the mass of the aerial bomb, launching the latter from the UMPC is not possible, at least at the level of existing technologies.