The 80mm (3.1in) S-8 rocket has the S-8DM and S-8DF thermobaric variants. ", 10.1002/1521-4087(200211)27:5<300::AID-PREP300>3.0.CO;2-#, High explosive disseminator for a high explosive air bomb, Compatibility Of Thermobaric Mixtures Based On Isopropyl Nitrate And Metal Powders, Fundamental and Applied Studies of Fuel-Air Detonation, Advanced Thermobaric Explosive Compositions, New Thermobaric Materials and Weapon Concepts, "Backgrounder on Russian Fuel Air Explosives ("Vacuum Bombs") | Human Rights Watch", "Main Types of Artillery Ammunition in 1914-1918", "What are thermobaric weapons? A thermobaric bomb explosion during the Caucasus 2016 strategic drills. Russia's most infamous thermobaric weapon has been dubbed "Father of All Bombs" (FOAB). These shells burned for approximately 2 minutes after the shell exploded and spread the burning elements in every direction. There is a point at which even if a war is deemed legitimate or just violence must not involve weapons that are excessively cruel or inhumane. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. . This article is being reprinted due to reader interest. [23] Further damage can result as the gases cool and pressure drops sharply, leading to a partial vacuum. Another Defense Intelligence Agency document speculates that, because the "shock and pressure waves cause minimal damage to brain tissue it is possible that victims of FAEs are not rendered unconscious by the blast, but instead suffer for several seconds or minutes while they suffocate". A TOS-1 blast is said to generate a pressure of 30.02 kg per square centimeter, which is double the amount of pressure generated by conventional bomb blasts, and regular air pressure is 0.98 kg per square centimeter. officially the Aviation Thermobaric Bomb of Increased Power, in 2007. Its development followed the use of similar weapons including the BLU-82 Daisy Cutter, a 15,000lb bomb designed in part to flatten a section of forest to carve out a helicopter landing pad. That distinction belongs to the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, a bunker-buster which weighs a colossal 30,000lb. This destructive weapon is dropped from a jet and it explodes in the middle of the air. [13] Such dust explosions happened most often in flour mills and their storage containers, and later in coal mines, prior to the 20th century. Thermobaric munitions can be traced back to World War Two, when they were initially used by the German army. In a tweet, the MoD said that Russia had confirmed the use of the TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine. It can cause damage in a radius of 300 meters. [84][85] In July 2005 the Russian government admitted to the use of the RPO-A during the crisis. Does that matter? As Russia's horrifying invasion of Ukraine continues to unfold, Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the US, has alleged that Russia used a vacuum bomb. Video, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure, Banana artwork in Seoul museum eaten by visitor, Explosion derails train in Russian border region, NFL player's daughter, aged two, drowns in pool, Indian 'killer' elephant relocated to tiger reserve, Ding becomes China's first male world chess champion. [32] A second generation of FAE weapons were based on those, and were used by the United States in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. . 2023 BBC. 'Bunker Buster' even bigger than MOAB. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? Inst. Oksana Markarova, Ukraines ambassador to the United States, said Monday that the Russian military had used a vacuum bomb, which sucks oxygen from the air to trigger a huge explosion. A thermobaric weapon might be targeted specifically at military installations and personnel, but its effects cannot be contained to one area. . Its really horrendous.. These can be combined with the RPO-16 grenade launcher, a demonstration of which was witnessed by Oleksandr Turchynov. The first-stage charge distributes an aerosol made up of very fine material - from a carbon . These are bombs or rockets that release a cluster of smaller bomblets over a wide area. The Russian military operates one of the worlds largest and most diverse arsenals of thermobaric explosivesbut just how much of a threat are these weapons, and how has the Kremlin used them in the past? Read about our approach to external linking. They are used for a variety of purposes and come in a range of sizes - including weapons for use by individual soldiers such as grenades and hand-held rocket launchers. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union developed TOS-1A MLRS capable of firing thermobaric warheads to attack fortified positions and destroy armored vehicles. Efforts to ban these weapons have not yet produced a clear prohibition. Many Russian Air Force munitions also have thermobaric variants. used thermobaric weapons and cluster bombs. Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted Saturday that Russia had deployed vehicles with thermobaric weapons. The TOS-1A uses thermobaric rockets, creating incendiary and blast effects." Peter Lee of the University of Portsmouth explained precisely how these bombs work in 2016 in the aftermath of Russia . The KAB-1500S GLONASS/GPS guided 1,500kg (3,300lb) bomb also has a thermobaric variant. Also, anyone caught in the blast radius of a vacuum bomb will be severely injured. [54], Iraq was alleged to possess the technology as early as 1990. The nuclear weapons ban treaty is groundbreaking, even if the nuclear powers haven't signed. Its kind of like the neutron bomb: There was no prohibition against it, but everybody just realized how horrible it was and they didnt want that, Johnson said. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? [41][42] The RShG-1 and the RShG-2 are thermobaric variants of the RPG-27 and RPG-26 respectively. The area has been under fire for weeks and dozens of civilian deaths have been confirmed. It's called the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, nicknamed the Mother of All Bombs, and it is the largest non-nuclear bomb currently in the U.S. Air Force's arsenal. Thermobaric weapons are generally deployed as rockets or bombs, and they work by releasing fuel and explosive charges. Older thermobaric munitions employ a solid or liquid explosive container and two separate explosive charges. The use of weapons in indiscriminate attacks those that cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians - is forbidden by the Geneva Conventions. A TOS-1 blast generates a pressure of 30.02 kilograms per square centimeter, double the amount of pressure generated by conventional bomb blasts. It comes by many names. Trocano (toknu) is a thermobaric weapon similar in design to the United States' MOAB weapon or Russia's FOAB. "[62], In 2018, the MoD accidentally divulged the details of General Atomics MQ-9 Reapers utilised by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Syrian civil war, which revealed that the drones were equipped with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Given their devastating impact, and their usefulness against defenders who are dug in to buildings or bunkers, thermobaric bombs have mainly been used in urban environments. [55], Israel was alleged to possess the technology as early as 1990. [106][29] Their use against civilian populations or infrastructure may be banned by the United Nations (UN) Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),[107] specifically the Protocol on Incendiary Weapons. Russia has developed its own massive conventional bomb, nicknamed the Father Of All Bombs. File photo: Handout The United States just Description. One team of Marines reported that they had destroyed a large one-story masonry type building with one round from 100 yards (91m). The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. 1 mile Just how powerful is the MOAB? Different fuels can be used, including toxic powdered metals and organic . Western states, as well as the Soviet Union and latterly Russia, have used them since the 1960s. How big is a MOAB blast radius? The TOS-1A uses thermobaric rockets, creating incendiary and blast effects. [14], A typical weapon consists of a container packed with a fuel substance, the center of which has a small conventional-explosive "scatter charge". Read more: Given their use is pretty standard in terms of Russian tactics, Hellyer said he expected to see more thermobaric warfare in Ukraine. #StandWithUkraine . The cloud of fuel flows around objects and into structures. The Father-Of-All-Bombs (FOAB) has a payload equivalent to forty-four tons of TNT. The Kornet has since been upgraded to the Kornet-EM, and its thermobaric variant has a maximum range of 10km (6mi) and has a TNT equivalence of 7kg (15lb). [53] The Russian bomb contains a charge of approximately 7 tons of a liquid fuel, such as pressurized ethylene oxide, mixed with energy-rich nanoparticles, such as aluminum, surrounding a high explosive burster that when detonated created an explosion equivalent to 39.9 tons of TNT. Determined not to repeat the costly mistakes of theFirst Chechen War, Russian heavy artillery and rocket batteries, partly consisting of TOS-1 units and RPO-A Shmel rocket launchers with thermobaric warheads, leveled large swathes of the Chechen capital Grozny to pound the rebels into submission. One of Russias latest short-range ballistic missile systems, theIskander-M,is compatible with thermobaric warheads. Russia's TOS-1A thermobaric rocket launchers at a defence exhibition in Moscow last year, US forces used thermobaric bombs in Afghanistan. Thermobaric bombs generally detonate in two stages: a small blast creates a cloud of explosive material which is then ignited, generating a devastating pressure wave. 19,4 (1976). The UK Ministry of Defence says their use is not illegal . The bombs have been used by Russian and western forces since the 1960s. This rarefaction effect has given rise to the misnomer "vacuum bomb". This is significant given developments on the ground in Ukraine, where Russian forces are trying to take control of the capital, Kyiv, and other main cities in the east of the country. This explosive is used to make Nuclear Explosives. ", http://www.iae.cta.br/Arquivos/Relatorio_de_atividades_2011.pdf%7Ctitle=Relatorio, "MoD admits use of controversial 'enhanced blast' weapons in Afghanistan", "UK Troops Using Deadly 'Thermobaric' Weapons In Syrian Civil War: Report", "MoD accidentally reveals British drones firing thermobaric missiles in Syria", "120 mm Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition For MBT Arjun | Defence Research and Development Organisation DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India", "120 mm Penetration Cum Blast (PCB) and Thermobaric (TB) Ammunition For MBT Arjun | Defence Research and Development Organisation - DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India", "Fire-power of DRDO's Arjun Tank takes quantum jump with new ammunition: MoD", "Ukraine developed a new thermobaric weapon", "Protecting Civilians from the Effects of Explosive Weapons An Analysis of International Legal and Policy Standards", CBU-72 / BLU-73/B Fuel/Air Explosive (FAE) - Dumb Bombs, "US Uses Bunker-Busting 'Thermobaric' Bomb for First Time", "BLU-118/B Thermobaric Weapon Demonstration / Hard Target Defeat Program", "Fact Sheet: Russia's Use of Thermobaric Weapons in Ukraine", "This Russian Tank-Mounted Rocket Launcher Can Incinerate 8 City Blocks", "Foreign Military Studies Office Publications A 'Crushing' Victory: Fuel-Air Explosives and Grozny 2000", "Russian forces faulted in Beslan school tragedy", Russia: Independent Beslan Investigation Sparks Controversy, Searching for Traces of "Shmel" in Beslan School, A Reversal Over Beslan Only Fuels Speculation, "Russian army deploys its TOS-1 heavy flamethrower capable of vaporizing human bodies near Ukrainian border, footage shows", "Oil depot burns after artillery shelling in Okhtyrka, Sumy Oblast", "Ukraine envoy to U.S. says Russia used a vacuum bomb in its invasion", "Syria rebels say Assad using 'mass-killing weapons' in Aleppo", "Dropping Thermobaric Bombs on Residential Areas in Syria_ Nov. 5. After the munition is dropped or fired, the first explosive charge bursts open the container at a predetermined height and disperses the fuel (and possibly ionizes it, depending on whether a fused quartz dispersal charge container was employed) in a cloud that mixes with atmospheric oxygen (the size of the cloud varies with the size of the munition). . (1973). The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB / m o b /, colloquially intended as the snowclone "Mother of all bombs") is a large-yield bomb, developed for the United States military by Albert L. Weimorts, Jr. of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Meanwhile, the USSR and its Russian successor found a wide range of uses of thermobaric systems. Russia's 'father of all bombs' is a thermobaric bomb with a destruction radius of nearly 300 metres and a blast yield of nearly 44 tonnes of TNT. Sebastian Roblin, a military expert, writing for . Current American FAE munitions include the following: The XM1060 40-mm grenade is a small-arms thermobaric device, which was delivered to US forces in April 2003. Detonation of the last BLU-82. The S-13DF's warhead weighs only 32kg (71lb), but its power is equivalent to 40kg (88lb) of TNT. [43] The RMG is a further derivative of the RPG-26 that uses a tandem-charge warhead, with the precursor high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead blasting an opening for the main thermobaric charge to enter and detonate inside. With a blast yield equivalent to 44 tons of TNT, the bomb creates a destruction radius approximately 300 meters wide, and a blast area approaching 2000 meters. International law says Putin's war against Ukraine is illegal. The type of thermobaric weapon that has been spotted with Russian convoys inside Ukraine is known as the TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher. Thermobaric - a Truly Barbaric Weapon. Russia used them in its war in Chechnya in 1999 and was condemned by Human Rights Watch for doing so. The missiles are filled with a highly explosive fuel and chemical mix, which, on exploding can cause supersonic blast waves . When deployed, thermobaric ordnance is a devastating weapon as it employs oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. . There are no international laws specifically banning their use, but if a country uses them to target civilian populations in built-up areas, schools or hospitals, then it could be convicted of a war crime under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has said his court will investigate possible war crimes in Ukraine. It's rumoured to produce a blast equivalent to 44 tons of TNT over a 300-metre area. [64][65], Based on the high-explosive squash head (HESH) round, a 120 mm thermobaric round was developed in the 2010s by the Indian Ministry of Defence. Gases are burnt . It is a super-powerful non-nuclear bomb that has a blast equivalent to more than 44 tons of TNT. Hellyer said Russia had a longer track record with them than the west. The ODAB-500PM and ODAB-500PMV[49] unguided bombs carry a 190kg (420lb) fuelair explosive each. ", "Ukraine's ambassador to US says Russia used a vacuum bomb, international groups say banned cluster munitions used to strike shelter", "The Ukraine crisis and the international law of armed conflict (LOAC): some Q & A", "Father of all bombs': Russia's brutal weapon", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thermobaric_weapon&oldid=1152073297, Articles with dead external links from April 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2022, Articles with disputed statements from April 2023, Articles containing potentially dated statements from November 2022, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Demonstration of an open-air dust explosion, This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 01:08. and contained 160 g (5.6 oz) of explosive, its lethality radius is 3 m (9.8 ft), but due to the deliberate "fragmentation-free" design of the grenade, a distance of 4 m (13 . [100] The explosive used by the bombers in the US 1993 World Trade Center bombing incorporated the FAE principle by using three tanks of bottled hydrogen gas to enhance the blast. As a non-nuclear weapon, use of the MOAB does not necessarily require approval by the US president. TOS-1 Buratino in action | Credit . A second charge then detonates the cloud, resulting in a huge fireball, a massive blast wave and a vacuum which sucks up all surrounding oxygen. . Accidental unconfined vapor cloud explosions now happen most often in partially or completely empty oil tankers, refinery tanks, and vessels, such as the Buncefield fire in the United Kingdom in 2005, where the blast wave woke people 150 kilometres (93mi) from its center. These weapons have been employed in conflicts around the world, particularly over the course of Russias military intervention into the Syrian Civil War. The weapons are sometimes nicknamed bunker busters because they can effectively demolish defensive barriers. The most common weapon of this type is the fuel-air explosive (FAE), a two-charge weapon that disperses and detonates a chemical cloud, creating a powerful blast wave that is particularly potent against fortified or otherwise enclosed positions like bunkers and foxholes. With up to thirty missile tubes that can be salvo launched in around fifteen seconds, TOS-1 batteries can cause a staggering degree of destruction within a short time span. . Watch the video below for more information about this weapon and its devastating impact.". [99], Thermobaric and fuelair explosives have been used in guerrilla warfare since the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing in Lebanon, which used a gas-enhanced explosive mechanism that was probably propane, butane, or acetylene. [77][29], The TOS-1 system was test fired in Panjshir Valley during the SovietAfghan War in the late 1980s. Thermobaric weapons are a type of explosive that consumes surrounding oxygen to create a high-temperature explosion within a wide blast radius. It is reported that Bashar Al-Assad's regime used a vacuum bomb in the strike. . Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, has also accused Russia of using them in its invasion. Hellyer says what we may see in Ukraine is Russia using them in a bunker-buster role to destroy defensive positions. The MoD stated that 20 missiles, described as "blast fragmentation warheads", were used in 2008 and a further 20 in 2009. FOAB's blast radius is said to be 300 metres, twice that of the BLU-82. When dropped from a jet, it can produce similar effects as that of a small tactical nuclear weapon. The US military has just dropped its largest conventional (that is non-nuclear) bomb for the first time in combat, on Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar. [101][102], Jemaah Islamiyah bombers used a shock-dispersed solid fuel charge,[103] based on the thermobaric principle,[104] to attack the Sari nightclub during the 2002 Bali bombings. Thermobaric weapons, or vacuum bombs, are a type of two-stage munition that create enormous explosions. The MOAB falls from the aircraft on a pallet, which is then tugged aside by a parachute allowing the weapon to glide down, stabilised and directed by four grid-like fins.

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