Thermobaric bomb

One of the denominations of this weapon is vacuum pump. For the homonymous gas extraction machine see vacuum pump.

Effects of an explosive air-fuel on a U.S. Navy vessel, 1972.

A high impulse thermobaric bomb (HIT), also known as a oil bomb, fuel bomb, air explosive -fuel (FAE or FAX), "heat and pressure" or vacuum bomb, consists of a container of a high pressure volatile liquid or gas which in some models is mixed with a finely powdered explosive and (usually) two separate explosive charges. After the device is launched from an aircraft or fired, the first explosive charge (or other dispersal mechanism) bursts the container at a specified height, dispersing the fuel into a cloud that mixes with oxygen in the atmosphere.. Once the fuel has been sufficiently mixed, the second charge is detonated which will propagate the explosion (blast wave) throughout the fuel cloud. Thus, it differs from conventional explosives in that it uses the oxygen in the air itself as the oxidant for the explosive reaction, instead of loading it into the explosive device itself.

A fuel-air explosion can occur accidentally as a result of a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE); for example, in the explosion of a tank of liquefied petroleum gases. Fuel-air explosions are also common in empty flour silos, where finely pulverized flour remnants in suspension can cause an explosion.

Note on terminology

The term thermobaric derives from the Greek words for “heat” and “pressure”: thermobarikos (θερμοβαρικός), from thermos (θερμός), heat + baros (βάρος), weight, pressure + suffix -ikos (-ικός), suffix -ico.

Some experts make a distinction between thermobaric weapon and fuel-air explosive, the latter called panclastites and used in World War II. Based on the main effects desired in each case, "thermobaric" would refer to the convection of closed areas or the displacement of air as the main objective of the device. On the other hand, "air-fuel" they would be used as "zone clearers," through an explosion-combustion paradigm, playing a role similar to that of the cluster bomb. Other sources use the term "air-fuel" applied to the general case, restricting "thermobaric", as already explained, while other authors use both terms interchangeably.

Weapon Effects

The explosion can annihilate hardened equipment and buildings; kills and harms people nearby. The anti-personnel effect of the blast wave is most lethal in shelters dug into the ground, over people with some form of armor or body protection, and in "hard" enclosed spaces such as caves, buildings, and bunkers.

The overpressure exerted inside the explosion can reach three megapascals (3 MPa) (430 PSI) and the temperature can range from 2500 °C to 3000 °C. Outside the cloud, the blast wave travels at more than 3 km/s. This wave, as it passes, leaves behind the void. This vacuum is capable of pulling out objects that are not attached. However, as a more serious effect, the vacuum drags the unexploded but still burning fuel, causing it to penetrate all non-hermetic objects within the radius of the explosion and causing their instantaneous incineration. Internal damage and suffocation may occur in people who have been left out of the zone of greatest effect of the explosion; for example, in galleries or deep tunnels, as a result of the blast wave, the heat and the subsequent extraction of air due to the vacuum.

The effects produced by fuel-air explosives (long-term high pressure and heat impulse) often resemble those of a low intensity nuclear weapon, but without the side effects caused by ionizing radiation --although it is not totally so; in all current and planned models of sub-kiloton nuclear weapons, radiation aftereffects dominate, producing secondary heating--a minute amount of the nominal charge actually results in the explosion. However, the significant damage exerted by any of these weapons on the target population is great.

Some of the fuels used, such as ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, are highly toxic. A device using such fuels is very dangerous even if the fuel did not ignite, in which case it would have basically become a chemical weapon.

History

The use of the flamethrower in trench warfare during World War I may be the first use of a "vacuum bomb" primitive, since it could suffocate soldiers who were protected from the direct effects of the weapon inside a bunker or shelter. Other similar effects were seen in the bombing of Dresden in World War II.

A very common fuel-air explosive is the Molotov cocktail, an incendiary weapon from the Spanish Civil War, used by the rebels to attack Republican tanks of Soviet origin. The Molotov cocktail is considered a low intensity thermobaric bomb.

In their current form, these devices (later called air-fuel munitions) would have been developed in the 1960s for use by the United States during the Vietnam War, to destroy the Viet Cong tunnel network, & #34;clear away" jungle areas for helicopter landing and "clean up" minefields. However, it is not clear that this was all; particularly the massive BLU-82 bomb nicknamed the "Daisy cutter" (in Spanish corta daisies) that was thrown by parachute, a bomb used for this purpose, raises the suspicion that it was such a weapon, but the details published about it indicate that it was not (it was apparently loaded with a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel from rockets). Air-fuel pumps certainly exist in published English-language literature, as early as the mid-1970s.

The USSR armed forces also developed fuel-air weapons, including thermobaric warheads for rocket-propelled grenades usable from manual field launchers (RPO-A Shmel Bumblebee). Russian forces have a large quantity of these weapons and are known to have used them against Chinese forces in the border conflict in 1969. They have also used them in Afghanistan and Chechnya.

Israel has developed a fuel-air system aimed at deactivating minefields. The system uses a small thermobaric charge carried in a rocket that explodes over the minefield, activating mines that are exposed or buried. The system has been designed for combat contexts and peace missions. Due to its limited effects, it does not produce collateral damage.

In 2003, the United States Army used the thermobaric version of its multipurpose assault system (Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon, or SMAW-NE), in the invasion of Iraq. An infantry team reported destroying a large masonry building with a perimeter of about 300 feet. The thermobaric explosive used in this weapon, PBXIH-135 or a variant, was developed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC). BLU-118/B parachute bombs had previously been used against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan in early March 2002.

Most Modern American Small Arms

Introduced in the conflict in Afghanistan, the XM1060 40mm grenade is perhaps the first man-portable thermobaric weapon developed by the United States. Developed and released in five months by the Picatinny Arsenal, the XM1060 was delivered to US forces in Afghanistan on April 30, 2003. The grenade was designed for short-term use by ground squads that were deployed to the battlefield.

Vacuum pump from Russia

In September 2007, Russia successfully detonated the largest vacuum bomb ever built, leveling an apartment block with a destructive power similar to a nuclear bomb. Russia called this bomb the "Father of all the bombs" in response to US developments of its "Massive Ordinance Air Blast" (MOAB) which was known as the "Mother Of All Bombs-Madre de Todas las Bombas", a satellite-guided long-range weapon and which had previously been presumed to be the most powerful non-nuclear weapon of the history. The bomb was dropped from a Tu-160 bomber.

BEAC Spanish

Starting in 1983, a military research program was developed in Spain in which the Ministry of Defense (General Directorate of Armament and Material, DGAM), Explosivos Alaveses (EXPAL) and Explosivos Río Tinto (ERT) collaborated, with the in order to develop the BEAC (explosive fuel-air bomb).

Defense Minister Narcís Serra (in 1990) did not rule out that Spain could have a fuel-air explosive bomb (BEAC). According to journalistic information, the developed prototypes would have been tested in a desert area of a third country (in Chile). It is still in doubt how many units Spain could have but some army generals believe between 30 and 80.

• The content of this article incorporates material from a Entry of the Universal Free Encyclopedia, published in Spanish under the Creative Commons Share-Igual 3.0 license.

Brazilian TROCANO project

The Brazilian TROCANO thermobaric bomb is a weapon of mass destruction as powerful as a small nuclear weapon, but without subsequent radioactive contamination.

Brazil is the only country in Latin America that masters the technology of thermobaric bombs. Like the famous and feared Russian FOAB bomb and the American MOAB, it is dropped mounted on a pallet and pushed out the rear door of a C-130 Hercules aircraft. A parachute separates the pallet, so that the bomb can fall freely. The bomb is then rapidly accelerated to its terminal velocity.

It contains about 9 tons of tritonal, a mixture of TNT (80%) and aluminum powder (20%). Aluminum improves the detonating capacity of TNT by around 18% and destroys everything within a 1 km radius.

The Americans use the C-130 Hercules and C-5 Galaxy to launch their MOAB in the same way as Brazil, through the back door.