Russia unveils devastating vacuum bomb
Source: ABC
Russia says it has tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb.
"Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon," Alexander Rukshin, deputy head of Russia's armed force chief of staff, told Russian TV.
"You will now see it in action, the bomb which has no match in the world is being tested at a military site," the repor
t said.
It showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb over a testing ground. A large explosion followed.
A vacuum bomb, or fuel-air explosive, causes widespread devastation.
As the bomb is dropped or fired, the first explosive charge bursts open the container at a predetermined height and disperses the fuel in a cloud that mixes with oxygen. A second charge ignites the cloud, which can engulf objects or buildings.
Also,
UK & Euro-Asian News
Russia tests world's most powerful vacuum bomb
RIA Novosti 2007-09-11 15:28:00
Russia has tested a thermobaric bomb that is the most powerful in the world, a top military official said Tuesday.
Known as a vacuum bomb, it uses a fuel-air explosive and can create overpressures equal to an atomic bomb, said Alexander Rukshin, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
Because FAEs cover a wide area, they are prone to indiscriminate use, especially in or near populated areas. Since this weapon is very effective against personnel in fortifications, bunkers, and other buildings, Russian forces may be tempted to use them in towns and cities where Chechen fighters are dug in. In urban settings it will be impossible for the Russians military to limit the destructive effect of this weapon to combatants and very difficult for civilians to take shelter from the FAE's effect.
~ Human Rights Watch
See also THIS And THIS.
The latter explains how these bombs work. And this is the Google search on vacuum bomb just as of today.
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