HD Video of a Syrian MiG-23 attacking Darayya with unguided 500-kg thermobaric bomb

Brought to my attention by Matt Fanning on The Aviationist FB page, the following HD video is one of the few clearly showing a Syrian MiG-23BN attack plane during a strike mission on Darayya, in southwest Syria.

Noteworthy, at the 00:26 of the video, the Russian bomber drops what seems to be a parachute-retarded ODAB-500 thermobaric bomb before egressing the target area at high speed deploying flares to deceive IR missiles like the one  that hit a Mil Mi-17 Hip gunship lately.

2.280 mt in length and 500 mm in diameter, the ODAB-500 is a 500 kg weapon developed by Russia for use against troops, light armored vehicles, parked aircraft and other soft targets.

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.