A LEAKED video has emerged showing the catastrophic power of the new one-tonne vacuum bomb developed by Turkey.
Touted as one of the world’s most destructive non-nuclear bombs, the GAZAP can cause utter devastation when dropped on enemy targets.
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And a glimpse of the devastation was caught in a short clip, which showed the mighty bomb’s terrifying effects.
The footage shows the GAZAP being dropped on the ground from a bomber during a military test.
The bomb explodes and creates a huge flash, sending shockwaves that are visible to the naked eye.
A massive cloud of smoke and dust follows the explosion, which covered an area of almost 160metres wide, according to Turkish military bosses.
The bomb is said to be one of the most powerful conventional weapons, just one step below nukes.
The GAZAP, which means “Wrath” in Turkish, was unveiled at the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 2025 in Istanbul.
It is a 2,000-pound MK84 aircraft bomb which can be dropped from bombers as well as fighter jets, including F-4s and F-16s.
Nilufer Kuzulu, who led the research to develop the bomb, said: “Unlike its conventional counterparts, it features a fragment-based structure with 10,000 particles.
“These fragments disperse within a one-kilometre radius upon detonation.”
She noted that traditional bombs of this category typically disperse around three fragments per square meter, while GAZAP disperses 10.16 fragments per square meter.
“This makes it three times more powerful than standard MK-series bombs,” Kuzulu said.
“This design mimics the effect of a defensive grenade, breaking apart into controlled fragments instead of random steel pieces,” she added.
The GAZAP bomb can be deployed from Turkish F-16 and F-4 fighter jets and can be developed further to be deployed from drones.
Thermobaric weapons were originally developed by the Nazis in World War Two but first used by the US in Vietnam.
They can produce more heat and overpressure than conventional bombs by exploding a vapour in the blast zone.
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The deadly cloud produced after the explosion can reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Celsius – and can burn through steel and concrete.
And if it comes into contact with human flesh, it can melt through right down to the bone.
Russia has a chilling past with thermobaric bombs and has reportedly dropped at least a few so far during its war with Ukraine.
While the use of the weapon can be extremely dangerous, it is not banned by the International arms control organisations to use against enemy positions in active warzones.
Deploying such bombs is not a breach of international law as long as civilians aren’t being targeted with them.
Putin’s wreakes havoc with vacuum bomb in Ukraine
Throughout the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been widely accused of using thermobaric weapons, commonly known as “vacuum bombs”.
Within days of the invasion, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, accused Russia of deploying a vacuum bomb.
Around the same time, visual evidence of TOS-1A – a Soviet-era launcher – being moved into Ukraine began circulating on social media.
During the brutal siege of Mariupol and the intense fighting in the Donbas region, numerous reports and videos surfaced allegedly showing the impact of thermobaric weapons.
Putin was also accused of dropping a vacuum bomb in response to a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region.
Earlier this year, a cache of Russian thermobaric bombs was blown up in a huge explosion after an overnight Ukraine strike.
Incredible footage shows a huge fireworks-like inferno reaching high up in the sky after the precision attack.
Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed the large pile of thermobaric munitions that was stored inside a warehouse in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement: “On the night of February 28, the Defense Forces of Ukraine destroyed a thermobaric ammunition storage facility of the Russian invaders in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, in the Selidove district.
“In addition, three more important facilities of the Russian invaders were damaged. In particular, the Ilsk Oil Refinery, which is involved in supplying the Russian occupation army.”