Russia tests 'father of all bombs'

Moscow, Sept. 12 (PTI): Russia has tested the world's most powerful non-nuclear vacuum bomb, the military said, dubbing it the "father of all bombs".

Russia's 'ORT First Channel' TV yesterday showed a strategic bomber dropping the vacuum bomb over a testing ground, which exploded in a massive fireball. Pictures of crumpled multi-storey apartment blocks were also broadcast.

"Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon," Russian Deputy Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Alexander Rushkin told the channel.

According to General Rushkin, the new bomb is smaller than the United States "mother of all bombs" but much deadlier because, due to nanotechnology, the temperature at the epicentre of the blast is twice as high.

"You will see it in action, the bomb which has no match in the world... Despite its destructive qualities, the vacuum bomb is environmentally friendly," he claimed. The same report was later shown on state sponsored 'Vesti' channel.

Though there was no independent verification of the Armed Forces' claim, the new bomb is further proof that the country's military is regaining its technological edge which might facilitate the escalation of the new Cold War. Moreover, the testing came weeks after President Vladimir Putin had revived the Cold War era practice of flying bombers on long range patrols.

Recently, Russian Tupolev bombers had approached British airspace for the fourth time in two months and sorties were also flown close to US military installations.