Vacuum, or thermobaric bomb in its power is practically not inferior to nuclear weapons. But unlike the latter, its use does not threaten with radiation and a global ecological catastrophe.
Coal dust
The first vacuum charge test was carried out in 1943 by a group of German chemists headed by Mario Zippermayr. The principle of operation of the device was prompted by accidents at flour mills and mines, where volumetric explosions often occur. That is why ordinary coal dust was used as an explosive. The fact is that by this time Nazi Germany was already experiencing a serious shortage of explosives, primarily TNT. However, it was not possible to bring this idea to real production.
Generally speaking, the term "vacuum bomb" is not correct from a technical point of view. In reality, this is a classic thermobaric weapon in which fire spreads under great pressure. Like most explosives, it is a fuel-oxidizing premix. The difference is that in the first case, the explosion comes from a point source, and in the second, the flame front covers a significant volume. All this is accompanied by a powerful shock wave. For example, when a volumetric explosion took place on December 11, 2005 in an empty storage at an oil terminal in Hertfordshire (England), people woke up 150 km from the epicenter because of the rattling glass in the windows.
Vietnamese experience
For the first time, thermobaric weapons were used in Vietnam to clear the jungle, primarily for helipads. The effect was overwhelming. It was enough to drop three or four such explosive devices of a volumetric effect, and the Iroquois helicopter could land in the most unexpected places for the partisans.
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In fact, these were 50-liter high-pressure cylinders with a braking parachute that opened at a height of thirty meters. About five meters from the ground, the squib destroyed the shell, and a gas cloud formed under pressure, which exploded. At the same time, the substances and mixtures used in fuel-air bombs were not something special. These were common methane, propane, acetylene, ethylene and propylene oxides.
Soon it was experimentally found that thermobaric weapons have tremendous destructive power in confined spaces, for example, in tunnels, caves, and bunkers, but are not suitable in windy weather, under water and at high altitudes. There were attempts to use large-caliber thermobaric projectiles in the Vietnam War, but they were not effective.
Thermobaric death
On February 1, 2000, immediately after another test of a thermobaric bomb, Human Rights Watch, a CIA expert, described its action as follows: “The direction of the volumetric explosion is unique and extremely life-threatening. First, high pressure of the burning mixture acts on people in the affected area, and then - vacuum, in fact, a vacuum that ruptures the lungs. All this is accompanied by severe burns, including internal ones, as many manage to inhale the fuel-oxidizing premix."
However, with the light hand of journalists, this weapon was called a vacuum bomb. Interestingly, in the 90s of the last century, some experts believed that people who died from a "vacuum bomb" were in space. Like, as a result of the explosion, oxygen instantly burned out, and for some time an absolute vacuum was formed. For example, military expert Terry Garder from Jane's magazine reported on the use of a "vacuum bomb" by Russian troops against Chechen militants near the village of Semashko. In his report it is said that those killed had no external injuries and died from ruptured lungs.
Second after the atomic bomb
Seven years later, on September 11, 2007, they started talking about the thermobaric bomb as the most powerful non-nuclear weapon. “The test results of the created aviation ammunition showed that in terms of its effectiveness and capabilities it is commensurate with a nuclear weapon,” said the former head of the GOU, Colonel-General Alexander Rukshin. It was about the world's most destructive innovative thermobaric weapon.
The new Russian aviation munition was four times more powerful than the largest American vacuum bomb. Pentagon experts immediately stated that the Russian data was exaggerated, at least twice. And the press secretary of US President George W. Bush, Dana Perino, at a briefing on September 18, 2007, when asked how the Americans would respond to the Russian attack, said that she was hearing about it for the first time.
Meanwhile, John Pike of the think tank GlobalSecurity, agrees with the declared capacity, which Alexander Rukshin spoke about. He wrote: “The Russian military and scientists were pioneers in the development and use of thermobaric weapons. This is a new history of weapons. " If nuclear weapons are a priori a deterrent due to the possibility of radioactive contamination, then super-powerful thermobaric bombs, according to him, will certainly be used by "hot heads" of generals from different countries.
Inhuman killer
In 1976, the UN adopted a resolution in which it called the volumetric weapon "an inhumane weapon of war that causes excessive suffering." However, this document is not binding and does not explicitly prohibit the use of thermobaric bombs. That is why from time to time in the media there are reports of "vacuum bombing". So on August 6, 1982, an Israeli plane attacked Libyan troops with American-made thermobaric ammunition. More recently, the Telegraph reported on the use of a high-explosive fuel-air bomb by the Syrian military in the city of Raqqa, as a result of which 14 people died. And although this attack was not carried out with chemical weapons, the international community is demanding a ban on the use of thermobaric weapons in cities.