According to the Russian military, the bomb tested this week was the most powerful non-nuclear weapon ever exploded. It contained about seven tonnes of high explosives with a blast radius of about 300 metres, making it four times more powerful than a similar bomb developed by the United States. The U.S. military first tested its bomb, officially named the Massive Ordnance Air Burst and unofficially nicknamed the Mother of All Bombs, in 2003. The Russian media dubbed Moscow's new weapon the "Father of All Bombs." The U.S. bomb has a destructive force equivalent to 10 tonnes of TNT, while Russia says its bomb is equivalent to 40 tonnes.

cbc 17092007