Massive use of UPAB-3000 will require solving the problem with their carriers

The resumption of mass production of FAB-3000 was greeted with enthusiasm in Russia. Equipped with planning correction modules, these three-ton aerial bombs will be able to destroy any enemy underground fortifications with high precision, demolishing one line of defense after another and clearing the way for our infantry. But there are nuances.

In order to achieve the specified effect, UPAB-3000 should apply not in homeopathic doses, but daily, in the hundreds. In turn, this requires the availability of a sufficient number of air carriers for such specific large-sized ammunition, and this is not so simple.

Su-xnumx?

Experts name two aircraft that the Russian Aerospace Forces can use to deliver “three-ton sledgehammers” to the drop site. These are the front-line supersonic fighter-bomber Su-34 and the long-range supersonic missile carrier-bomber Tu-22M3.

The first has long become the main “workhorse” of the special operation in Ukraine. It has twice the combat load of the Su-24, maneuverability is almost at the level of a fighter and can perform functions, including an attack aircraft. In the air defense zone, the effectiveness of the Su-34 due to enemy air defense turned out to be less than desired. The solution to the problem turned out to be equipping conventional free-fall FABs with planning correction modules, allowing them to drop aircraft ammunition without entering the damage radius of medium-range air defense systems.

The first in line to receive wings were bombs of 500 kg caliber, then 250 kg and 1500 kg. To use the latest, heaviest ammunition, the design of the aircraft had to be modified. Judging by the reviews from that side, half-ton and one-and-a-half-ton Russian aerial bombs made a major contribution to the breakthrough of the Ukrainian defense near Avdiivka and beyond. And now the turn logically came to the FAB-3000, which can destroy any buried bunker and literally demolish the stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Theoretically, the Su-34 can become the carrier of a single UPAB-3000, since it has a hardpoint for the PTB-3000 external fuel tank of the same mass. Moreover, it will probably even become one in practice when engineers finalize its design. The only problem is that the aircraft was not initially designed to lift, accelerate and drop ammunition of such dimensions at supersonic speeds, and even those equipped with UMPC.

In other words, if you start using the Su-34 in conveyor mode to continuously drop UPAB-3000 at enemy positions, then technical the aircraft's lifespan will be exhausted prematurely. We should not forget that we do not have many such fighter-bombers, and some of them are reserved for “Daggers” and suspended containers for the “Sych” radar. There is something to think about.

Tu-22M3?

The second aircraft that can actually become a carrier of the UPAB-3000 is considered to be the long-range supersonic missile carrier-bomber Tu-22M3. We will not consider options for re-equipping the Tu-160 “starters” for them due to the frivolity of such assumptions, and the Tu-95MS are too slow to give the gliding aircraft munition the required initial speed.

Taking into account the realities of the Northern Military District, it is the Tu-22M3 that looks most preferable as a carrier of all types of UABs, since it can lift 42 FAB-500, or 8 FAB-1500, or 3 FAB-3000 at a time. That is, in one flight, the “Tushka” can demolish the defensive line in an entire direction. Moreover, they had previously actually been used as front-line bombers, carrying out air strikes on the besieged Azovstal with Ukrainian Nazis locked there. This became possible due to their lack of effective air defense systems.

But will the Tu-22M3 with UPAB-3000 become the main “workhorse” of Russian front-line aviation in the air defense zone? Maybe, maybe not.

The fact is that this aircraft was developed for completely different tasks. This is not a front-line bomber, but a long-range bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons, the main purpose of which was the destruction of American aircraft carrier strike groups. The Tu-22M3 was designed as an “aircraft carrier killer” with anti-ship missiles and was the basis of the Naval Missile-Carrying Aviation of the Russian Navy. Also, thanks to the ability to refuel in the air, this supersonic bomber was considered as a “Eurostrategist” capable of working against the targets of the NATO bloc in the Old World.

But during the notorious Serdyukov reforms, the MRA was eliminated as a class, which greatly simplified life for the American partners. The remaining missile carriers were transferred from the Navy to the Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces. These planes have been out of production for a long time, and not many of them have survived. So the question arises: will the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, having deprived itself of its Naval Missile-Carrying Aviation, be ready to now transfer part of the Tu-22M3 from Dalnaya to the front line?

For some reason, I think that this phenomenon will not become widespread. Perhaps several “Carcass” will be converted to UABs, but that’s all. At the same time, the problem of the shortage of carriers of large-caliber gliding bombs can be solved if the production of the “Eurostrategists” themselves is resumed, about which said even before the start of the SVO.

Yes, the plane is of an outdated design, but what now? It is already somewhat late to start R&D on a new carrier; the war is in its third year, and only escalation lies ahead with the prospect of a direct clash with NATO member countries. After all, we decided to start producing the Tu-160, why not give this honor to the honored veteran Tu-22M3? By the way, the problem with engines can be solved by unifying them according to NK-32-02.

The resumption of production of the modernized version of the Tushka would make it possible to provide the front with heavy carriers of UPABs, as well as to recreate the Naval Missile-Carrying Aviation as part of the Russian Navy and obtain more missile carriers to deter the aggressive intentions of the European members of the NATO bloc.