Russia has tested the world’s most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said on Tuesday, dubbing it the “father of all bombs.” The bomb is the latest in a series of new Russian weapons and policy moves as President Vladimir Putin tries to reassert Moscow’s role on the international stage.
“Test results of the new airborne weapon have shown that its efficiency and power is commensurate with a nuclear weapon,” Alexander Rukshin, Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff, told Russia’s state ORT First Channel television. The same report was later shown on the state-sponsored Vesti channel. “You will now see it in action, the bomb which has no match in the world is being tested at a military site.”
17 Comments
MarineGunrockSeriously awesome. I wonder if this same thing would be possible to scale down to a 155mm artillery round or even a mortar...
jimnms*military
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frogger3dsays...Does anyone know how this works? Is it some kind of chemical reaction causing an implosion?
The big firey cloud is strange....
frogger3dsays...allright allright, I'm lazy..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon
still.. how is a gas/dust cloud explosion device a vacuum bomb?
FletchI'm glad to see that we will be able to create massive death and destruction in a much more environmentally-friendly manner.
MarineGunrockFrogger,
When any explosion of considerable power happens, it sends out a shock wave, as I'm sure you know. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong on the following)
When it does that, all the air is pushed outward to from the visible phenomenon. When it does so, there is no air left inside that bubble, thereby earning the term 'vacuum'.
cheesemooI think that's about right, MG. I read somewhere that the force of the vacuum is enough to pick up and throw someone.
cheesemooAlso, though I can't tag it, this seems to be *dead
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frogger3dsays...as put forward in this post: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=296235&cid=20582667
The effect of such a bomb to people would be suffocation over a large area. Nice way to go..
bamdrewThe visible pressure wave extending outwards is very low and very high pressured air, born of the rapid displacement of atmosphere occurring as the cloud of explosive propellant is ignited. The rapid displacement of air molecules 'ripples' through the atmosphere in three dimensions, with this pressurized-air wave ramming into and reflecting off of things as the energy is disbursed outwards. It might be conceptually helpful to think of the atmosphere as a fluid, and continue with that 'ripple' and 'wave crashing' analogy, but in three dimensions.
I'm not exactly sure, though, how much atmospheric oxygen these beasts would eat up, as I don't know their size or what the explosive is (though that first cloud before it blows looks pretty huge). Suffocation could conceivably occur relatively close to the explosion, by the explosive robbing nearby O2 (CH4 + 2O2 → heat + CO2 + 2H2O), but I imagine it would be much more likely that your chest cavity would expand/crush under the pressure at that kind of distance anyhow, and then you'd be buried in rubble. Your ears might ring a bit afterwards, too.
... at least, thats my understanding. ... so remember, never use vacuums!
karaidlGood to see even Hoover is getting a foot in the door in military stock.
AeroMechanicalsays...I was under the impression Daisy Cutters were deemed too indiscriminate to be legally used as weapons. These don't seem to be any different. Better lawyers these days, I suppose.
oritteropo*dead
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