Russia tests the largest conventional weapon ever, the Father of All Bombs.
Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power (ATBIP; Russian: , ), nicknamed "Father of All Bombs" (FOAB; Russian: " ", ), is a Russian-designed, bomber-delivered thermobaric weapon.
The bomb is reportedly similar to the US military's GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast which is often unofficially called "Mother of All Bombs" derived from its official military acronym "MOAB". This weapon would therefore be the most powerful conventional (non-nuclear) weapon in the world. However, the veracity of Russia's claims concerning the weapon's size and power have been questioned by US defense analysts."FOAB" was successfully field-tested in the late evening of 11 September 2007. The new weapon is to replace several smaller types of nuclear bombs in the Russian arsenal.
The terms conventional weapons or conventional arms generally refer to weapons whose ability to damage comes from kinetic, incendiary, or explosive energy and exclude weapons of mass destruction (e.g. nuclear, biological, radiological and chemical weapons). Conventional weapons include small arms, defensive shields and light weapons, sea and land mines, as well as bombs, shells, rockets, missiles and cluster munitions. These weapons use explosive material based on chemical energy, as opposed to nuclear energy in nuclear weapons.Conventional weapons are opposed to both Weapons of mass destruction and improvised weapons.
The acceptable use of all types of conventional weapons in war time is governed by the Geneva Conventions. Certain types of conventional weapons are also regulated or prohibited under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Others are prohibited under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, the Ottawa Treaty (also known as the Mine Ban Treaty) and Arms Trade Treaty.